Spinning
by GarenKat Fangirl
Summary: He cleared his throat awkwardly again, and shifted uncomfortably on his feet, trying to figure out the best way to phrase his proposition. "I…" he began, then decided to forego any pretense of formality. "I'd like you to attend ballet class with me." A Garen/Kat story.
1. Chapter 1

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 1: Katsaridaphobia

* * *

Garen frowned. "What?" he asked, not sure he'd heard correctly.

"I said kill that goddamned fucking bug!"

Garen scratched his chin. "That's what I thought you said." Then he smirked. "What, the famous Sinister Blade, famed assassin, murderer of countless men—afraid of a cockroach?"

If looks could kill, the glare Katarina leveled at him would have dropped him dead immediately. But then she grimaced and closed her eyes, sighing. "Look. Just kill it. _Please_."

Garen couldn't keep the bemused smile from his lips. "So you're really scared of a little _bug_?"

Katarina bristled and pointed a furious finger at him. "Okay, _first off_ , it is a huge-ass two inch roach, and _second_ , I'm not scared of it!"

Garen quirked a brow. "Really? Because it seems to me like you're too afraid to throw a dagger at it—"

"I'm not afraid of killing it!" she sputtered, her face turning red. "I… I'm just…"

"Afraid of roaches?" he provided.

"It's katsaridophobia, thank you very much, and it's not that I'm afraid of _killing_ it. Killing it would be easy. I wouldn't even have to get close." She fingered the blades sheathed on her belt.

Garen was perplexed. She was right. She had deadly aim with her blades—she could easily throw a dagger and impale the creature, ending its life. So why didn't she?

"Katsaridophobia…?" he asked. "Is that a phobia of roaches?"

Her grimace deepened. "Yes," she grumbled.

Finally, it clicked. "Aha!" Garen said, slamming his fist into his other hand. "I see now!" And then he let out a chuckle. "You're afraid of touching the roach—or touching a blade that's touched one."

She whirled at him, her face almost as red as her hair. "Just kill the damned thing already, Garen Crownguard!" It was then that he noted how shallow her breaths were, the sweat beading on her face. She really was terrified of the little roach on the road, the middle lane she was supposed to be defending.

Chuckling, he walked towards it and, with a quick stomp of his boot, the creature was no more. He kicked it off the side of the road, hoping its absence would help Katarina defend her turrets. "There. It's dead," he said.

Katarina let out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from her brow. "Thank you," she managed.

"You owe me one," Garen said, smirking. She glared at him, and by the way she opened her mouth, it looked like she was about to argue. But then, she closed it, silently fuming. He'd come to her lane to help her since Yi, their jungler, had refused to help. He'd sacrificed precious time to help her, and now he'd have to run back to his lane before the real fighting began. Katarina did owe him.

"Fine," she grunted, and, satisfied, he jogged back to the top lane.

And so it was that, two weeks later, Garen found her in one of the League's training rooms and entered the room quietly, hoping not to disturb her practice.

"What do you want?" Katarina asked as she threw a knife and impaled a practice dummy's head, and he supposed he should have known that she'd notice his presence even with her back turned.

He cleared his throat, and she turned to him, crossing her arms.

"It's about that favor you owe me," he said.

She snorted. "What do you want?" she repeated.

He cleared his throat awkwardly again, and shifted uncomfortably on his feet, trying to figure out the best way to phrase his proposition. "I…" he began, then decided to forego any pretense of formality. "I'd like you to attend ballet class with me."

She balked, and her eyes widened. "What?" she asked, desperately needing him to repeat that, wondering if she'd gone mad, if he'd gone mad.

"I want you to sign up for Twisted Fate's ballet class with me," he said hurriedly.

She scoffed. "Ballet?" She looked him up and down, and laughed. "I never thought you'd be fond of the arts, Crownguard." She smirked. "Like the idea of men wearing tights?"

He was visibly affronted. "I feel no attraction towards men wearing tights," he said, "though if I did, that would hardly be a bad thing. No," he continued, "my interest in ballet is purely professional."

"So you like the idea of women wearing leotards and tights," she said.

"I feel no attraction towards women wearing tights," he replied, "though if I did, that would—"

"Be purely professional," she snickered.

He frowned and cleared his throat, indicating his distaste with her attitude. "My interest in ballet is purely professional. I have one goal in mind, and that is why I must enlist your help as well."

"And what is this goal?" Katarina asked, intrigued despite herself.

Garen looked into her eyes, dead serious. "I wish to improve my spinning technique."

Katarina's unchecked laughter echoed throughout the League's halls.

* * *

Katarina's frown was unmatched in its intensity.

"Remind me why I agreed to this," she muttered under her breath to her dance partner as she pried some lint off of her black leotard.

" _Kat_ phobia," Garen muttered back, amused.

"Katsaridophobia," she hissed. "Dick," she added for good measure.

Garen just chuckled.

"Crownguard, DuCouteau, mind payin' attention?" a sharp voice asked, and the two dance partners straightened as their dance instructor, Twisted Fate, bore down on them.

"Yes sir!" they both replied instantly, a testament to their military background.

"Well, that's good to hear," he said. With a tip of his hat, he marched back to the front of the class.

It was a relatively small class. The League of Legends offered voluntary recreational classes to Champions. The classes were only offered for six weeks, but Champions were encouraged to participate in at least one every year. Katarina had never participated in any, not thinking them worth her time. Yet she found herself here, in a class instructed by Twisted Fate, of all people.

The students in the class made up a strange group. She and Garen were partners, which was unusual in and of itself. But besides them, the class consisted of Annie, Amumu, Blitzcrank, Orianna, and—the strangest pair—Cho'gath and Kog'maw.

They were a small group—and with the way Kog'maw kept spewing that disgusting ooze from his mouth that dissolved the floor, they'd likely be getting smaller.

Twisted Fate didn't seem fazed, though. "So y'all want to be ballerinas," he said, a smirk on his lips. "Well, let me warn ya, I don't go easy. You won't be learnin' pointe here, not enough time to build up your ankles. But you'll be learnin' the great tricks of the trade, for sure."

Garen raised his hand, and Katarina nearly smacked her forehead. What, were they in preschool again? Nonetheless, Twisted Fate seemed to appreciate the gesture, and called on Garen.

"Sir, when will we be learning how to spin?" he asked.

Twisted Fate let out a chuckle. "That's a ways down the road. For now, we have to build up your endurance and flexibility." And with that, the man launched into a description of exercises which he then demonstrated and had them perform.

Katarina and Garen were both veterans of war and liked to think themselves in fine condition. But by the end of the exercises, both of them were covered in sweat and panting heavily, as were the rest of the participants in the class. Well, except the robots, though they said something about needing oil.

And then there was also Kog'maw. He had started chewing on a bar on the wall, and nobody had wanted to deal with him, so they left him to it. Once Cho'gath had gathered his strength, he walked over to the little void creature and procured some meat (from where, nobody could tell) and fed him, and then Kog'maw waddled happily over and began to run through some more of the exercises, excited.

"Dance, dance, dance!" Kog'maw cried, spewing green, possibly acidic saliva all around the floor by his feet.

Annie giggled and Amumu chuckled. Twisted Fate sighed at the floor which would need replacing. Garen and Katarina looked disgusted by the ooze. Cho'gath just smiled.

"Well, I reckon' that's enough for today," Twisted Fate said, hoping to contain the damage the little void creature would do to his dance studio's floor. "Keep practicing those exercises, and I'll see you on Thursday!" Then he teleported away.

Kog'maw started singing and then started spewing globs of green ooze everywhere, and everyone decided to leave in a hurry.

Katarina already hated ballet class.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! There's more to come soon! Drop a review/fave/follow if you're so inclined.

Just a warning upfront: I'm no dancer, and I'm doing the bare minimum of research. So if there's stuff that's wrong, please let me know, so I can fix it. That said, if it makes the story impossible to write, you'll just have to suspend your disbelief. Anyway, this entire fic is just me fulfilling my desire for Garen ballerina and Katarina ballerina (rito plz make these skins), so it's a little silly. Hope you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it!


	2. Chapter 2

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 2: Pirouettes

* * *

Thursday's class found Katarina Du Couteau narrowly dodging green sludge bombs, and with poor Amumu being struck on the head by one, knocking him out cold and making Annie summon her bear to chase after Kog'maw, who thought it was just a game.

Twisted Fate intervened by sending three golden cards towards Annie, her bear, and Kog'maw, and stunned them long enough for Cho'gath to grab the little void creature and take him aside to impress upon him the importance of good manners and social conduct, and how the appreciation of the fine arts was one that required calm and as little ooze as possible. Kog'maw drooled and nodded his assent, and Cho'gath sighed.

Annie, for her part, wanted to send Tibbers after Kog'maw again, but luckily, Twisted Fate managed to convince her that the bear was not good for the dance floor. She agreed to put Tibbers away once Garen offered to take Amumu to the Summoner's office downstairs, where he would receive healing. Then Annie summoned Tibbers again and declared that _she_ would take Amumu to the Summoner's office downstairs, where he would receive healing, and Tibbers picked up the little mummy and the pair lumbered out the door.

Twisted Fate sighed and then turned to Blitzcrank and Orianna. "Please tell me you two will behave yourselves, at least," he pleaded.

"This is very exciting," Orianna offered, and Twisted Fate frowned as Blitzcrank laughed in reply.

He turned to Garen and Katarina. "I don't even wanna know why you two are paired up. Just do me a favor and don't try to kill each other."

Katarina scoffed. Garen nodded emphatically. "I swear it on my honor that I will not try to kill my dancing partner. And I know for a fact that she will not kill me, at least not until this class is over."

Katarina snorted, but remained silent.

Twisted Fate adjusted his hat and then continued. "Well, since the rest of you are still here, let's just move on with the lesson." And then he continued to teach them some very basic dance moves such as the positions for hands and feet, plie, tendu, releve, and other such moves.

When they had learned them to Twisted Fate's satisfaction, he dismissed them and instructed them to continue practicing. "I'll see y'all on Tuesday!" he declared before teleporting away.

"I hate when he does that," Garen muttered as he grabbed his water bottle and took a sip.

Katarina shrugged. "It's just what he does," she said before she too grabbed her water bottle and gulped some down.

"You did well today," he said.

Katarina quirked an eyebrow at him—the scarred one. "Thanks," she said. She paused for a moment before adding, "You too, I guess."

Garen beamed. "Thank you," he said, and the two left the room in high spirits, and went to change.

* * *

Tuesday was the day Garen had been anticipating. When Twisted Fate teleported into the room, Garen immediately stood to attention and raised his hand. "Sir!" he said, and Twisted Fate sighed.

"Yes, Garen?"

"Do we get to learn how to spin today?" Garen asked, incredibly excited. For a brief moment, Katarina found herself thinking that his excitement was kind of adorable, then checked her thoughts.

"Yes, Garen," Twisted Fate said, clearly annoyed, "we get to learn how to _spin_."

"Thank you, Sir!" Garen cried, offering a salute. Katarina rolled her eyes.

"Dance, dance!" Kog'maw chirped.

"Yes, Kog'maw," Twisted Fate said through clenched teeth. "We're gonna dance." The little void creature celebrated by sending spittle flying, though his talk with Cho'gath from the last class seemed to have kept the amount of flying projectiles to a minimum.

"Now, the pirouette is an advanced move. I don't expect many of you will master it quickly. Though perhaps you'll prove me wrong." Then Twisted Fate set about demonstrating how to pirouette and the proper positioning of the arms and feet, as well as the art of spotting.

"All right. Each of you pair up and help your partners improve."

Garen turned to Katarina. "Well," he began, "would you like to spin first, or shall I?"

Katarina smirked. "I've been pirouetting since I was a toddler," she said matter-of-factly. "Why don't you give it a try."

Garen nodded. He took a deep breath and centered himself, then lifted his foot and made sure he pointed his toe. He did a bad job of it, but at least he tried. Then he lifted his arms into position, and with a mighty cry, he lifted onto his toes and began spinning with enthusiasm, if lacking refinement.

Katarina couldn't help but laugh at the way he spun. It was ridiculous.

"You forgot to spot," she said through her laughter once he'd finished a couple of turns.

"Oh, right," Garen said. Then he frowned. "It's not polite to laugh at a person who is just learning how to spin properly."

"Oh, forgive me, Crownguard," Katarina said, and she smirked. "Let me show you how it's done."

And then she spun, putting her arms in perfect position and lifting onto her toes. Garen was spellbound. When she finished, she smirked at him and wiped away a lock of hair that had fallen from her bun. "See?" she said, relishing in his awe-filled gaze, "easy."

Garen shook himself from his trance. He'd been very distracted by the spinning beauty before him, admiring her technique. That was all he'd been admiring, he told himself, definitely not admiring any other part of her, especially not the way her leotard hugged her—her _technique_! He mentally shook himself. And then, as he thought back to her technique—and only her technique, he realized something.

"You forgot your leg," he said.

"What?" Katarina said, her smirk falling from her lips. It was his turn to smirk.

"Your leg. You have to lift it up. Like this." And then he demonstrated. Katarina's expression darkened.

"Fine," she snapped, and she spun. This time, however, she was slightly off balance, and although her pirouette was not bad, it was certainly not good, either.

"Keep tryin', y'all, keep up the good work," Twisted Fate said as he walked past them. "Keep those toes pointed, the both of you."

Garen and Katarina grit their teeth in frustration.

"Let's try that again," Garen said, and he spun once more, this time remembering to spot with his head, and Katarina offered a few pointers. Then it was her turn, and she pirouetted, and he offered her pointers, too. And they kept going like this, frustrated that the other was able to notice their flaws, and so their technique kept improving rapidly.

By the end of the class, they had mastered the pirouette, and Twisted Fate praised them. They were both exhausted, but satisfied. Twisted Fate called the class to an end, and after thanking Cho'gath for keeping Kog'maw's ooze to a minimum, he teleported away.

"Katarina," Garen said through pants as they grabbed their water bottles.

"What, Garen?" she replied, taking a swig of water at the same time as him.

"You spin good," he said, and a tinge of pink touched his cheeks. They both pretended it was because of the exercise.

"You, too," she said as she tried to even out her breathing.

"I also want to thank you for your help today. Without you, my spinning technique would still be lackluster. And I hope that as we continue this class, it continues to get better."

Katarina blew some locks that had fallen out of her bun off of her scarred eye. "I guess this class isn't a bad thing. Keeps us in shape," she laughed.

He chuckled. "The warm-ups are more intense than any of my military training."

"Me, too," Katarina said, offering an amused smile. Then she cleared her throat. "Anyway, I'll see you on Thursday, Crownguard."

"See you on Thursday, Du Couteau."

* * *

A/N: And there's chapter 2! If you have any suggestions for future antics, please let me know! This is a work in progress, and I'd love to toss around ideas with y'all. Anyway, hope you're enjoying the story. Leave a review/fave/follow if you're so inclined.


	3. Chapter 3

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 3: Lifts

* * *

That Thursday turned out to be an… _interesting_ class. Since most of the class had managed to successfully pirouette to Twisted Fate's satisfaction, he decided to move on to another lesson.

"Now, the men will lift the ladies, and then y'all will spin the lady in the air. Go ahead and pair up and get started, and I'll come around and help y'all out," Twisted Fate said. Later, he would regret not explaining the exercise in more detail.

Garen and Katarina paired up, as per the usual. But then Garen did something unexpected, and Katarina couldn't help but let out a startled cry as he grabbed her hands and—and began to spin.

Katarina's feet were lifted off the ground as he spun her around and around, her feet flying behind her as he increased the velocity of their spins. "Garen! No!" she cried, but he didn't heed her, only kept spinning with her flapping helplessly through the air.

Katarina decided to take matters into her own hands. Gritting her teeth, she shunpo'ed behind Garen.

Now, Newton's First Law of Motion states that an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an external force, and that an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force. And so it was that Garen, who was still spinning, continued to spin even after Katarina shunpoed behind him. And so when his moving arms collided with Katarina, who was at rest, the force of his arms and spin knocked her over, and she crashed to the ground. And Garen, off-balance from the crash, fell on top of her.

Twisted Fate was too late in responding to the fiasco, so his gold card, which he had been aiming at Garen—who was now lying on the floor—flew through the air and instead hit Blitzcrank, who had been attempting to lift Orianna in the air. And then Orianna proceeded to crash to the ground, as Blitzcrank's machinery failed to keep her alift once he'd been stunned. Orianna rose to her feet muttering about fleshlings.

Unfortunately, the gold card combined with the need for oiling caused a small piece of Blitzcrank's machinery to malfunction. His arm shot forward in a fist, and collided with poor, unuspecting Amumu, and the small mummy was knocked out cold immediately. Twisted Fate immediately began to groan, for he knew what would happen next. And sure enough, Annie summoned her bear Tibbers in order to help carry the unconscious Amumu to the nurses downstairs. As the bear's claws destroyed the floor, Twisted Fate realized that he would definitely be meeting the deductible on that floor. Good thing the League would be paying for it.

Meanwhile, Katarina and Garen were in a rather embarassing predicament. When he had fallen atop her, he had managed to catch himself, but they found themselves in a rather compromising position. His leg was between hers, and her hands were against his chest, and their lips were only centimeters apart, and Garen realized that her eyes were green and that they were very beautiful. Katarina found herself thinking that Garen's muscles beneath her hands were pretty impressive, and the way his hair fell into his eyes was nice, handsome even.

At the same moment, they both realized their position, and they scrambled away from one another, quickly standing up and avoiding each others eyes.

Garen coughed. "S-sorry," he mumbled. Katarina just shook her head, ignoring the heat in her cheeks.

Twisted Fate sighed, then resumed class. "Garen, that wasn't what I meant," he said. "Here, I'll demonstrate. Katarina, if you'd be so kind." He gestured for Katarina to join him, and so she did. Placing his hands firmly upon her waist, he lifted her into the air. "See? Now you turn gently." He spun around before placing her softly back onto the ground. "Ladies, please make sure to point your toes."

Garen nodded. "I see," he said. "I misunderstood."

"That's an understatement," Katarina muttered as Twisted Fate had the class start practicing again.

"Are you ready?" Garen asked as he placed his hands on Katarina's hips, mirroring Twisted Fate from before. He swallowed, realizing how thin and lithe she was, how his hands fit perfectly along her curves.

"Ready," Katarina said, and Garen didn't notice the slightly breathless quality of her tone. She tried to ignore how her voice did that of its own accord, a reaction to his body against hers.

Garen was surprised at how light she was. He easily lifted her into the air, and held her there, their gazes meeting. And then he made a slow turn, just as the instructor had indicated. And he placed her gently back onto the ground.

"Yes, good!" Twisted Fate said, having observed the act. "Now, Garen, you need to make sure you're positioning your feet better." And so he demonstrated, and Garen's attention was fixed on the instructor as he did so.

Katarina couldn't stop her heart from thudding against her chest. She let out a shaky breath and swept some bangs from her face. When he had lifted her, she'd felt like she was flying. Flying through the air, held aloft by his strong arms, secure in his hold, she'd looked into his eyes and seen the sky and her heart had skipped a beat.

It bothered her for the rest of the class. It was stupid, she thought to herself. Stupid. She'd been in the arms of dozens of men before, so why was this Demacian, who made her take this stupid class, making her feel things she shouldn't be feeling?

Katarina wasn't a fool, and in the back of her mind, she probably realized that she might be heading into territory from which she could not return. But she ignored that part of her, choosing to ignore those feelings she could barely describe, and she dismissed it as the thrill of executing a new ballet technique, as the thrill of being lifted—it was completely unrelated to _who_ had lifted her.

No. She was Katarina Du Couteau. Katarina Du Couteau, the Sinister Blade of Noxus. And Katarina Du Couteau didn't have crushes.

* * *

A/N: Oh, Kat, please-you're not fooling us.

Anyway, just want to remind everyone that this _is_ a shipping fic, so even though it's comedy, it'll get shippy, too. Like, disgustingly so. I love it owo

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Feel free to leave a review/fave/follow if you're so inclined. I'd love to bounce ideas off of people, so if that interests you, feel free to shoot me a PM.


	4. Chapter 4

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 4: A Production!

* * *

Of course, his interest in her form was purely professional. At least, that's what Garen kept telling himself as he watched Katarina perform her usual stretches as they waited for their Tuesday class to begin. The way she pointed her toes, and the way the muscles in her outstretched leg responded, the way the tights revealed those firm, taut muscles, that lithe form, those—

He cleared his throat, cutting those thoughts short. He was just looking at her form to improve his own—that was all.

He knew he was lying to himself. He'd been lying to himself for a long time, now. When he'd first encountered Katarina on the battlefield, she'd beaten him. Not in terms of skill—no, they were equals when it came to combat. But she'd outsmarted him and recovered Sion's remains, and that was the first real failure Garen Crownguard had ever experienced. The thrill of feeling her blades clash against his—it was intoxicating.

Ever since, he'd told himself he just loved the prospect of facing her in battle, the thought of going toe-to-toe with a worthy adversary, a challenge. But since they'd started dancing together… Garen noticed that he'd feel that same rush of excitement he'd feel in battle, that same heat in his cheeks, the same sense of challenge.

So it wasn't a desire to face her in battle. He knew that, now. And as he continually caught himself staring at Katarina, he realized what it was.

He sighed. He couldn't believe it. He didn't know exactly when it happened, and he certainly didn't know why. But at some point, he'd started to fall for Katarina Du Couteau.

Trying to distract himself, he performed some stretches himself, hoping the physical activity would deter his thoughts. It worked, and he threw himself into the stretches, finding comfort in the way his muscles stretched. Exercise had always been a good distraction for him, and he enjoyed it.

And then he caught Katarina staring at him. When she met his eyes, she started, and averted her eyes quickly, crossing her arms. He was… surprised. Perhaps he had just imagined her stare. Yes, he thought to himself and nodded, that must be it.

Sparing him from dwelling on the matter, Twisted Fate appeared, having teleported (as he did).

"Howdy," he said, offering a crooked smile. "How was y'alls weekends?"

"I got to meet Annie's parents," Amumu said softly with a shy smile as he shifted from foot to foot. "They were really nice."

"And we had a lot of fun playing with Tibbers!" Annie said, giggling.

Twisted Fate nodded. "Glad t' hear it. And how 'bout the rest of y'all?"

Cho'gath scratched his…chin? "My weekend was rather ordinary, but watching Kog'maw here is always an adventure, and we went to the park, where he had a lovely time playing with the children there." Then he sighed. "Although they didn't seem to have much fun with him. It seems to me that their parents have neglected to teach them proper manners."

"Park fun!" Kog'maw said, his tongue lolling and green drool pooling at his feet. "Game of tag fun!"

"I wouldn't have fun either, if that thing was throwing goop at me in the park," Katarina muttered under her breath, and Garen had to check himself in order to keep from laughing. Katarina noticed and couldn't keep a smirk from her face.

"The work I performed over the weekend involved complex algorithms and equations, which a simple minded fleshling such as yourself would be unable to understand," Blitzcrank said.

Twisted Fate refrained from rolling his eyes. "I see," he said.

"I spent my weekend practicing my ballet," Orianna said, her metallic voice sounding strangely happy. "It was so exciting."

"Good, good!" Twisted Fate said, offering a smile. Then he turned to Garen and Katarina.

"And how 'bout y'all two?"

Katarina shrugged. "Got summoned a few times," she said. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"That's not true," Garen said, "I saw one of her matches. She got two pentakills in one game."

Katarina smirked. "Like I said, nothing out of the ordinary."

Twisted Fate smiled. "Well, good for you, Miss Du Couteau! And how was your weekend, Crownguard?"

"I spent my weekend with my sister, Lux. She insisted I accompany her shopping. It was… fun, but exhausting."

"She made you carry her bags, huh?" Katarina asked.

Garen sighed and closed his eyes. "So many bags…" he mumbled.

"Well, I'm glad everyone had a good weekend," Twisted Fate said. "Right, let's get started right away!" Then he produced a clipboard—from where, nobody knew—and began flipping through some pages. "So, since we're halfway through the 6 weeks of this class, I think it's high time we start working on a production!"

Everyone blinked in surprise. Garen raised his hand.

"A production?" he asked, clearly confused.

"You heard me right," Twisted Fate said. "Since it's almost Snowdown time, I reckon a good ol' traditional performance of the Nutcracker is in order."

"But we don't have enough people to fill the roles," Katarina said, and everyone looked at her, surprised. She noticed their stares, and her cheeks turned slightly pink. "What?"

"It's just… how do you know that?" Garen asked.

"Just because I'm a Noxian doesn't mean I'm uncultured," she said, frowning and swiping away some loose hairs from her bun. "My Father…" she faltered slightly before continuing. "My Father used to take me and Cassie to see The Nutcracker every Snowdown."

"Oh," Garen said. He noticed her hesitation, and he knew why she'd hesitated. With her Father still missing, Katarina had been on a mission to find him ever since his disappearance. But all of her leads had led to nothing, and she was stuck at square one, wondering if her Father was even alive.

Hesitating, Garen placed a hand on her shoulder, and she glanced at him. "I'm sure you'll find him," he said softly, so only she could hear.

She seemed stunned, but then her gaze turned into a glare and she shrugged his hand off. "I will," she said, turning away from him and facing Twisted Fate, who had watched the exchange with a raised eyebrow.

Clearing his throat, Twisted Fate replied, "You're absolutely right, Miss Du Couteau. Our class doesn't have enough roles for this performance. But that's why we'll be bringing in some other League Champions, as well as a few extras. And all of the Yordles in the League have agreed to perform as well, so we've got the children covered.

"The main roles, however, will be filled by y'all in this class. Auditions will be held on Thursday, during class." He nodded, then flipped to another page on his clipboard. "The roles available for y'all are: Clara, The Nutcracker, The Mouse King, The Sugar Plum Fairy, The Polichinelles, and Mother Ginger."

The class nodded, and Garen noticed Katarina quirk an eyebrow at the mention of the polichinelles.

"So, with that in mind, let me teach y'all the routine y'all will need to perform at the audition. Now, I've standardized the routine so y'all only have to learn one routine, which means there'll be less confusion. But it also means you'll hafta practice real hard, since you'll be competin' against everyone for the role ya want."

Annie raised her hand. "Can I be the Sugar Plum Fairy?" she asked.

Twisted Fate shrugged. "It depends on your audition. Now remember, there are no losers or winners. Every role is important, so if ya don't get the role ya want, remember that your role is just as important. All right?" He looked at everyone in the class, but particularly at the younger members until he was satisfied everyone was agreed. "Good. Now, let's run through the routine."

For the rest of the class, Twisted Fate ran them through a two-minute routine which strained everyone's muscles, and he passed out a flyer with the routine written on it so that everyone could go home and practice it without forgetting a single step. The routine was brutal, filled with complicated moves executed one after another, and in class, he pointed out everyone's flaws and expected them to fix it immediately.

Even Kog'maw, who usually drooled and spit all over the place, was too focused on the routine to destroy anything that class, though his sweat did seem to sizzle along the bars when he touched them, but everyone ignored that.

By the end of the class, everyone was exhausted, but had learned the routine to Twisted Fate's satisfaction.

"Good job, everyone," he told them. "Now remember to be here extra early next class so we can get started with the auditions. If you're late, you'll be in trouble. Practice hard, and if you need help practicin', my contact information's on that paper I handed out to y'all. Good luck, everyone!" And with that, he teleported away.

"I hate it when he does that," Garen muttered between breaths, still breathing heavily from their workout.

Katarina blew some hair out of her face, also panting. "You know that's just what he does," she said, smirking at the familiar conversation.

"Yeah, I know," Garen said. The pair walked to retrieve their water, as had become their routine, and they drank several gulps in a comfortable silence as the room emptied of their classmates.

After Garen had wiped some sweat from his face, he asked, "So what role will you be auditioning for, Katarina?"

She pondered the question for a while. "I'm not sure," she admitted.

"You're familiar with the ballet, though," Garen said, and she nodded.

"Yeah, I know it pretty well. But I'll need to talk to Twisted Fate to see if I can audition to be the Nutcracker."

"Isn't that a man's role?" Garen asked, surprised.

She snorted. "Who cares about that? He gets to sword fight—now that's my kind of role."

Garen made a soft humming noise. "That sounds like a role that would suit me."

Katarina eyed him before bursting into laughter. "You want to improve your 'spinning technique', right?" she asked between laughs, and Garen eyed her suspiciously.

"Yes," he said slowly, "what of it?"

"You should audition for the role of…" she had to stop, as she was overtaken by a fit of laughter again. "You should be… the Sugar Plum Fairy."

"And why is that?" he asked.

Katarina chortled. "I have a recording I can lend you. It's better if you just see it for yourself."

Garen paused. "I don't have a television in my room," he admitted.

"What the hell?" Katarina asked, genuinely surprised. "How do you keep up with national events?"

"I have a radio," he said defensively. "I listen to Demacian News and the League International every day."

"Boring," she said. "You need to get out more, Crownguard."

Garen huffed. "I just find television too distracting. I don't watch it much."

"Doesn't your sister have one you could use?"

"Lux… doesn't like to share," he said, scratching his chin awkwardly. It took Katarina a few moments to realize what he meant.

"You mean she won't let you in her room?"

"I… no…" he admitted. "But I do have a spare key, I'm sure she wouldn't mind—"

Katarina snorted. "Who's she sleeping with?"

"I—how _dare_ you—"

"Oh, you know that's what she's up to," Katarina said.

"I know of no such thing!" Garen said, though the blush on his cheeks admitted he was wrong. "And besides, Ezreal is a nice young man, surely he wouldn't—"

"Ezreal, huh? Figures," Katarina laughed. "Look, take it from me, just let her sleep with whoever she wants, whenever she wants. Trust me, if your sister doesn't want you in her room, don't go in her room." She shuddered.

"I take it you speak from experience?" Garen asked gruffly, still slightly gruntled from her insinuation, but also realizing that she was likely right.

"Unfortunately," she said. She sighed. "Look, I have a tv in my room, we can watch it there."

Garen blinked, then coughed. "Are… you sure?"

Katarina hesitated. She probably shouldn't. She could just lend him the recording and let him figure out how to watch it on his own. But… but she really, really wanted to see his reaction to the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. She knew it was stupid, she knew she shouldn't want to see the light dance in his eyes in excitement, but… but she couldn't lie to herself anymore.

She was Katarina Du Couteau, and she had a crush on Garen Crownguard, and she wanted to see his reaction to a stupid dance from a ballet she'd loved as a kid.

Stupid, she knew. But…

 _Fuck it,_ she thought. "I'm sure. You up for it?" she asked.

Garen visibly hesitated, likely wondering whether she was crazy, she thought. Probably wondering why a Noxian was being nice to a Demacian. Hell, she was wondering the same thing. He probably wouldn't accept. He _shouldn't_ —the ties between their city-states were too fragile, and if they made any wrong moves, it could lead to fractured political ties, even more strained relations between their city-states.

But then he nodded. "I'd like that," he said, smiling. "When would be a good time?"

She was taken aback. She hadn't thought he'd actually accept. By all rights, he shouldn't have. And… and that smile he was giving her… She shook that thought away, refusing to let her heart hope for anything, even though it had skipped a beat at that smile.

"Uhh… Are you free tonight?" she asked.

Garen cleared his throat and scratched his cheek. "I… yes, I'm free."

"Right after this class?" she asked. He nodded. "All right. I'll meet you outside the changing rooms, then."

He nodded, and the two walked downstairs in silence. It was… awkward, but… but she enjoyed it.

She wanted to think the pink tinge to his cheeks was because he enjoyed it, too, but it was probably just left over from their intense exercise earlier.

* * *

A/N: A longer chapter to make up for the shorter one before this. Didn't realize till after it was published how short it was.

Hope you like the story so far! In other news, I bought Amumu (finally), and he is SO adorable. I love him.

Anyways, it's IP weekend, woohoo! I'm off to play as many arams as I can to get as much IP as I can get~


	5. Chapter 5

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 5: The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

* * *

Garen wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel. He was probably supposed to be approaching this with a professional attitude, emotionally detached, treating it as a diplomatic session between the Noxian ambassador and himself. But… Well, he couldn't keep the smile off his face.

It was close enough to a date, and Garen was happy with that. Katarina probably didn't see it that way—she was aloof, silent as they walked down the stairs towards the changing rooms. He gave her a small wave as he went to the male's changing room, and he caught a glance of himself in the mirror.

He was grinning like a fool, and his cheeks were red. He hoped Katarina hadn't noticed. That was… unprofessional behavior, he knew. He went to the restroom area and splashed some cold water on his face, then pressed a towel to dry it off. He took several deep breaths before returning to his locker and gathering his things.

He paused, wondering if he should shower. They hadn't discussed it… he decided to take a quick one, so he raced to the shower and, ignoring the temperature, hurried to wash himself off. He towel-dried quickly, water dripping into his eyes from his still-wet hair, and he dressed as fast as he could. He gathered his things and sprinted to the door to the changing rooms. He took a deep breath before opening the door.

Katarina was waiting for him. It looked like she had taken a quick shower, too, judging from her damp hair, which was pulled back into a ponytail. He was taken aback, and his heart thudded in his chest at the sight of her—she was stunning.

Her emerald eyes met his, and she smirked—god, that smirk was attractive—and said, "Ready, Crownguard?"

He cleared his throat as he felt his cheeks burn. "Ready, Katarina."

* * *

"My God," Garen breathed, his eyes wide, his mouth gaping.

"Like what you see?" Katarina asked, smirking.

"How… how does she do that?" he asked, staring at the television with awe.

"Years of training," Katarina replied.

"Her technique… it's flawless," he said, eyes sparkling as he watched the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. "The execution of those pirouettes is stunning. Those twirls are magnificent!"

Katarina snorted, but she couldn't keep a genuine grin from her face. Her eyes had been locked on Garen's expression for the past ten minutes, and she'd been completely ignoring the recording. He'd made the funniest expressions as he watched, and when she'd told him this was the role he should audition for, he'd watched with rapt attention. When the dancer had begun her famous round of pirouettes, Garen had been entranced, and Katarina had found herself thinking it was… cute.

God, it was so stupid. She couldn't believe she'd fallen for this idiot. But as she watched his mouth turn up in a smile, her heart began to beat faster, and she knew she couldn't escape these feelings.

"To be the Sugar Plum Fairy… my spinning technique would need much more improvement." He frowned.

She laughed. "Well, you did take the class so you could 'improve your spinning technique'. That role would definitely help."

Garen nodded. "You're right!" he said. "I will audition for the Sugar Plum Fairy, absolutely."

Katarina tried not to laugh, but she failed. "Garen, you're going to look ridiculous if you land that role."

He quirked an eyebrow, then laughed with her. "You're right," he said, "but it would be fun."

They shared a laugh, and then lapsed into comfortable silence as they watched the rest of the ballet.

Once it was over, Katarina turned off the tv and put the recording away.

Garen cleared his throat. "Uhh… Katarina, I—"

"Kat," she said.

"What?"

"You can call me Kat," she said, averting her eyes. "It's what my friends call me."

"I… Kat…" Garen swallowed. "Thank you. I appreciate you showing me the recording. I'm positive that our class will have a lot of fun putting it together, and I'm certain that Twisted Fate will let you be The Nutcracker."

"Heh," she let out, grinning. "If not, I'd make a good Rat King. And I'd still get to sword fight."

"I thought it was the Mouse King."

"Rat, mouse. Same difference," she said, waving her hand dismissively.

Garen frowned. "Rats and mice are different. And you mean to say, 'same thing', not same difference—the difference can't be the same."

Kat rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Crownguard."

"Garen. If I can call you Kat, you can call me Garen," Garen said softly, scratching his chin awkwardly as his cheeks turned pink.

"Ah… right. Garen, then," Kat said, running a hand through her hair. "I still like calling you Crownguard, though," she said, a smirk on her lips, "it's fun to tease you."

A knock on her door startled them both.

"I, uh, I'll go get that," she said, rising from the couch to her feet. Then she paused and gave him a look. "Just… stay here, okay?"

He nodded. He didn't want to start any international gossip by being seen with a Noxian—in her personal quarters, too. No, he'd stay right here, out of sight of the door, thank you very much.

Kat waited another moment before walking to the door and opening it.

It was her sister.

"What's up, Cass?" Kat asked, but Cassiopeia was already pushing her way through the door, and although Katarina tried to stop her, the other woman hissed, and Katarina relented.

"Kat, we need to talk," Cassiopeia said. "I've heard… rumors." The emphasized 's' wasn't lost on her as Katarina closed the door.

"What sort of rumors?" Kat asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Rumors about… a _ballet_ class." Cassiopeia smirked, and she slithered farther into Katarina's rooms before plopping herself down on an armchair in the living area. Garen could see her from Kat's bedroom, and so with a glance from Kat, he discreetly moved further into her bedroom, out of sight.

Katarina huffed. "So what?"

"Oh, nothing," Cassiopeia said, examining her nails as Katarina crossed her arms. "Only that my sources tell me a certain Demacian… invited you to join him."

"And?" Kat asked, her tone turning menacing.

"Oh, Kat, I don't mean any harm," Cassiopeia tittered, and her forked tongue flicked out, then returned to her mouth. "I was just wondering if you were plotting to kill him. Because really, there are much more discreet ways to go about it, and—"

"I'm not going to kill him. That would start a war, Cass," Katarina said, rolling her eyes.

"Glad to hear it," she said. "You know, I must say… he is rather… muscular, don't you think?" She lifted an eyebrow.

"He has muscles, yes," Katarina said, trying to keep her voice even.

"Yes, but he has…rather _large_ muscles, wouldn't you say?"

Katarina closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to maintain her calm. "He has muscles, yes, I already agreed." She opened her eyes again, glaring at her sister. "Cass, what do you really want?"

Cassiopeia let out an unhappy sigh, pouting. "What, I can't talk to my sister without ulterior motives?"

"No. No, you can't, you haven't been able to since you were eleven," Kat pointed out.

"True," Cassiopeia admitted. She relented. "All right. I'm here because I want to impress upon you the fact that you should stay away from Garen Crownguard."

"I know that," Kat snapped.

"Then why aren't you?" Cassiopeia asked. "Why is he in your _bedroom_?"

Garen's eyes widened. He was certain she hadn't seen him!

Katarina froze, then sighed. "Damn your sense of smell." Somehow, she always forgot that along with Cassiopeia's magic, she had also gained an excellent Jacobson's organ, as well as her nose.

Cassiopeia rolled her eyes. "You always forget."

"Shut up," Katarina snapped. "Garen, she wants to talk to you," she called out, and Garen hesitantly edged into the room.

"Yes, Garen, come here," Cassiopeia said. She seemed to size him up before shrugging. "Well, he's not my type, but whatever you like."

"Cass, I swear to _god_ —"Katarina began, her cheeks burning.

"Listen to me, the both of you." The dangerous tone to her voice made the pair freeze. "If you two are seen together, as romantically involved—whether or not you are," she added when they both opened their mouths to protest, "there will be a scandal. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. Valoran needs a good scandal. But be prepared for the backlash." She eyed Garen. "I'm sure your prince might have a few qualms with a Noxian at his best friend's side."

Garen hesitated, then sighed. "I know," he said.

"How did you two even become friends, anyway?" Cassiopeia asked, looking between them.

"I… we…" Katarina fumbled with her words.

"Katphobia," Garen supplied gravely.

"Katsaridaphobia, god, how many times do I have to tell you," Katarina corrected.

"Kat, why do roaches always get you in trouble?" Cassiopeia wondered. "There was that one time with Darius, that other time with Dad, that one time with the roach on your toothbrush—"

"Ugh, don't remind me," Katarina groaned, covering her face.

"She had a roach on her toothbrush?" Garen asked, slightly disgusted.

"Oh yeah, a big one with wings," Cassiopeia laughed. "Then there was that time when one was in her bra—"

" _Okay_ , that's enough of _that_ ," Kat cut in. "Cass, I think it's time you leave. We know what we're doing."

Cassiopeia shrugged. "I tried to warn you," she said as she rose and stretched her arms. "But seriously, have fun with the ballet thing." She gave Garen a smirk. "Katarina always did like The Nutcracker when we were kids."

Garen smiled. "So she told me."

At this point, Katarina was just about pushing her sister towards the door to get her out of her room.

"All right, all right, I get it," Cass muttered. "I'll see you around, Kat." She paused at the door, then gave her sister a hug. "Love you," she mumbled.

"Love you, too, Cass," Kat replied softly, returning the embrace. After a moment, they parted, and Cassiopeia left.

"Well… That was… uhh…" Garen trailed off, unable to find a word.

"Unexpected," Katarina supplied.

"Yes. Unexpected."

"That's Cass for you," Katarina said with a sigh. "Look, I hate to do this, but it's getting late, and she had a point—"

"I was just about to excuse myself," Garen said, scratching his chin. She walked him to the door, and they both hesitated.

"I… uh… I had a… a very fun time," Garen said, his cheeks pink.

"I… I did, too," Kat admitted.

"I'm glad," he said. "Uhh… maybe we can… do it again. Sometime. Or—or we could practice together outside of class. Practice our spinning technique, I mean."

She smirked. "Right. Sounds fun," she said.

They'd drawn closer to each other without realizing it, their bodies leaning forward, their body heat warming each other.

Then Garen noticed, and he coughed, and Kat noticed, and she leaned back.

"I hope you have a lovely evening, Kat," Garen said reaching out an awkward hand.

Kat hesitated, then took it and shook it. "You too, Garen."

She bid him goodbye, and he let himself out, closing the door behind him.

Kat stared at the door for several moments before sighing and locking it, then walking to her bed and throwing herself facedown onto the mattress.

 _Fuck_ , she thought to herself. She had _definitely_ fallen for Garen Crownguard. She'd fallen for him _hard_.

 _Fuck_ , Garen though to himself as he walked down the hallway and ran a hand over his face. He had _definitely_ fallen for Katarina Du Couteau. He'd fallen for her _hard_.

* * *

A/N: Well, there we have it! Gotta say, this was one of the chapters I've had the most fun writing! xD Hope you enjoyed it, and don't worry, there's more to come soon!

I also want to thank everyone for 1.5k views! I never expected this story to be that popular o.o It seems LoL has a pretty dedicated fanbase in the ffnet community, I guess. And thank you to all the faves/follows-I'm glad you like the story enough to want to keep reading! And I want to thank the reviewers especially-your words are always appreciated, and I can't tell you how lovely it feels to see a review notification in my email.

Sorry if the update schedule's a little erratic. I haven't had much sleep this week (I think I'm running on maybe 10 hours for the past three days haha) and I've been really busy with job interviews and the like (I got one job offer, but it's a night shift and I'd really rather not since it's not exactly safe, here), and I'm holding out for one job I would absolutely love to do, but we'll see. Whether I get it or not, I still have other options available to me. And as long as I don't have a job, I'm pretty much free to play LoL all day/write all day when I'm not watching my little sister.

I also just played annie for the first time today. She's hilarious-I'm gonna hafta get her. But right now I'm saving up for Jinx (why is she so expensive ugh), then talon/velkoz (talon cuz he's hot lol, and velkoz cuz he's hilarious and I'm decent with him).


	6. Chapter 6

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 6: Extra Practice

* * *

The next day, Garen found an unexpected note under his door when he returned from a match on Summoner's Rift.

"Dance room tonight, same time as yesterday."

He smiled and tucked the small piece of paper into his pocket.

When Garen arrived at the dance studio they usually had class in, Katarina was already there, hair up in a bun. She wasn't wearing her tights and leotard today; instead, she wore a tank top and sweatpants, and of course ballet slippers. Her hair was up in a messy bun. She was stretching in front of the mirror, her back to him.

He felt a little silly, wearing his usual dance attire—the required black tights and white shirt, and the black ballet slippers. Still, he was glad to see her, even though he was slightly embarrassed.

"Hey, Crownguard," she said when he entered, smirking at him as she looked at him from the mirror.

"Hey, Kat," he replied jovially, and he sauntered into the room, beginning his own stretching routine. He could feel her eyes on him as he stretched, and he couldn't keep from hoping that she wasn't just observing him—that she was watching him closely for a different reason.

She blinked and checked herself. She was staring—and he'd noticed. _Stupid_ , she chided. Except that his muscles really _were_ impressive; and _Garen_ might not be attracted to men in tights, but _hell_ , the way he stretched was really hot, and those tights left absolutely _nothing_ to the imagination—

She checked her thoughts again. Seemed she was doing a lot of that lately with this man around.

"How's the routine coming along?" she asked him, and he shrugged.

"I've practiced it. Though I'm a bit lost as to what I should do to improve." Then he grinned. "But maybe that's why we're here."

"That's exactly why we're here," she said, smirking at him. "You ready?"

He nodded, having finished running through his stretches.

Without the need for words, the two ran through the routine side-by-side, never missing a beat. By the end of it, they had both worked up a sweat and were breathing heavily, but they were both smiling.

"Your… pirouettes," Garen breathed, "still need some work."

"So do… yours," she said between breaths. "And your footwork sucks."

"Your plie leave something to be desired," he retorted.

"Your legs were bent."

"Your arms were in the wrong position."

"Your feet were in the wrong position."

"Your hair is loose."

"What?" she asked, taken aback.

"It fell out of the bun about halfway through the routine."

Katarina cursed, then hurriedly undid the bun—what was left of it—and pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail.

"It wasn't a bad thing," Garen offered, and she rolled her eyes.

"Garen, please," she said, pulling the ponytail to make sure it would hold.

He cleared his throat. "Well, if you go through the routine, I can show you where I noticed mistakes."

She nodded, and they proceeded to do just that. He didn't have many tips to offer, just a few pointers, as she quickly fixed any mistakes she made. After that, she ran through it once more, and he nodded, not seeing any mistakes.

"Your turn, Crownguard," she said, smirking. And they did the same for him.

At one point during his routine, she shook her head. "No, you keep doing this wrong. It's fourth position, not fifth."

He attempted to correct his feet, and she sighed. "No, your feet are fine. Your _arms_ are in the wrong position."

He frowned. "Fourth… " he murmured, and adjusted his arms.

"Right. But Twisted Fate said to curve it more," Kat said. When he tried to adjust, she let out a laugh. "Not _that_ much." He'd curved his arm way too far. "Here," she offered, and she placed her hand on his arm, gently positioning it.

He felt tingles where her fingers touched his arm, and he gulped. "Like this?" he breathed, and she met his eyes.

Something passed between them, then, something neither of them could truly describe. They were frozen in that moment, her hand on his arm, her body so close to his he could feel her heat, and they leaned forward, their faces inching closer.

"Am I, uh, interrupting somethin'?" a voice said, and the two jumped apart, eyes wide.

Twisted Fate was behind them, an amused smirk on his face, tipping his hat.

"N-no," Kat said, and Garen shook his head vigorously.

"W-we were just practicing for tomorrow," he said weakly.

Twisted Fate's expression didn't change. "Right," he said. Then he chuckled. "Well, if y'all two wanna hang around a little longer, I'm gonna be helpin' Annie and Amumu with their routine, and I could help y'all, too."

"They wanted help?" Garen asked, surprised.

"Annie was worried 'bout the mummy. Said he's missed so many classes he probably isn't prepared." Twisted Fate chuckled. "Little girl sure looks out for her friend. Wrecks the floor with her bear, but she's lookin' out for him."

"I think she's his only friend," Kat said.

"Really?" Garen asked, surprised. He hadn't really interacted with Amumu, not really having any common ground with the little mummy. But hearing that was… sad.

Katarina shrugged. "No one else hangs out with him, from what I've noticed."

"No wonder she looks out for him… no one else will…" Garen said, his expression serious. Then he turned to Katarina and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Kat, we must befriend him."

She looked at him, disbelief on her features. " _What_?"

"We must befriend the little mummy," Garen stated proudly, "we will be his friends."

Kat rolled her eyes. "Why would I befriend an undead yordle?"

"Because it's the right thing to do," Garen said somberly.

"He won't want your pity," she argued.

"It's not pity," Garen countered, "it's sympathy. Surely you know how hard it is to be lonely. Imagine being lonely and not having memories, not having a home to go back to."

Katarina opened her mouth, then closed it. He was right. When she went on long missions, she didn't mind being alone. But whenever she did get lonely, thoughts of her families and friends, Noxus, her home, kept her going.

"Fine," she relented, and Garen squeezed her shoulder.

"Thank you," he said, and she huffed.

Twisted Fate quirked an eyebrow. "You're an odd one, Crownguard." Then he grinned. "But ya got a good heart." Twisted Fate seemed to dwell on that thought for a while, his eyes gaining a far-off look.

Then Annie and Amumu arrived, dressed in their ballet clothes. Annie wore her black leotard and tights, and Amumu wore black tights and a white shirt over his bandages.

Twisted Fate ran through the routine with everyone once together, just trying to make sure everyone could keep time. Amumu had some trouble keeping a rhythm, but Annie told him to sing under his breath, and that seemed to help him.

Then Twisted Fate had Annie run through it, and he gave her several pointers, having her stop and demonstrating how to perform a certain move more precisely. Annie tried very hard, her lips pursed and her face set in determination. She had some trouble being flexible, but other than that, she improved a lot during the lesson.

"I think that'll do it, sweetheart," Twisted Fate said, offering Annie a crooked smile, and she giggled.

"Your turn, Mumu!" Annie said, pushing a tentative Amumu forward.

"Ok, ok, I'm going," Amumu mumbled, and Garen and Kat both noticed he seemed to have tears in his eyes.

"All right. So your turn, little guy," Twisted Fate said. Amumu took a deep breath and then ran through the routine.

But about halfway through, he tripped on one of his loose bandages and fell to the floor, crashing face-first into the ground.

"Mumu!" Annie cried, rushing to his side.

Garen rushed forward, too, and together, he and Annie helped the mummy to his feet.

"I'm sorry," Amumu said, and up close, Garen saw that the mummy was indeed crying. "I didn't mean to fall…"

"Don't worry 'bout it," Twisted Fate said. "Everybody falls down sometimes."

"That's right," Garen said, placing a hand on Amumu's shoulder. It was cold to the touch, but Amumu's eyes looked at Garen hopefully. "When you fall down, sometimes it feels like you've failed. But rest assured, that with courage, you can rise again. And it doesn't hurt to have a friend."

Amumu smiled. "Will you be my friend?" he asked shyly.

Garen laughed. "Of course!"

"Mumu, you made a friend!" Annie said cheerfully, and Amumu began to cry in joy.

His tears fell all over the floor, and Twisted Fate repressed a groan. Amumu's tears were cursed—and as they fell to the floor, the floor began to rot. _Deductible's met_ , _not my problem_ , he thought to himself through clenched teeth, even as his heart ached for his poor floor.

"Not just me!" Garen said, and he beckoned Kat over. "Katarina would like to be your friend, too, Amumu!"

Katarina offered a pained smile at the mummy, and he began to sob harder. To everyone's surprise, he threw a bandage right at Kat, who was stunned, and he flew to her, knocking her backwards as he wrapped his arms around her midsection in a hug.

"What the hell?" Katarina cried as she landed on her butt, hard, and she grunted.

"I'm just… so… happy!" Amumu sobbed into her shirt, and she patted him awkwardly on his head.

Annie rushed over and hugged Amumu and Katarina, too, and the look on Kat's face with not one, but two children hugging her was _priceless_ —a look of pure disgust mixed with uncertainty about what to do. Garen couldn't help it—he burst into laughter. Wiping a tear from his eye, he decided to join in on the group hug and embraced everyone, lifting them into the air.

Amumu and Annie loved that—Kat let out a cry to let him know how much she didn't.

And so it was that Amumu made not one, but two friends on that day, and he learned how to do the routine properly with Twisted Fate's help. There was a slight incident concerning Amumu's ballet slipper flying off and hitting Garen in between his legs, but Garen, his voice slightly higher than normal, replied that it was fine and returned the slipper to Amumu. The rest of the lesson passed without incident.

Tired and hungry, Garen and Katarina went their separate ways after the lesson, bid goodbye to the instructor before he teleported away, and bid farewell to Annie and Amumu.

When he went to sleep that night, Garen thought that today had been a fun day.

And although she would never admit it, Katarina found herself thinking the same thing.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the long delay with the chapter update. I recently got the job I wanted (yay!), so I've been a little busy. It's just part-time, but I have orientation and training, so it's a little busy. I also had to do some stuff at home, so like I said, just been a little busy. BUT! I have a lot of this story written already, so although it took a while to update, rest assured the story is far from abandoned.

Anyway, this was a fun chapter to write.

I still don't have Annie yet (tragic), but I did manage to get Talon (he's so fun omg). I played an ARAM the other day where I went legendary as Talon the second time playing him. Super fun. I'm determined to get Cass next to finish up what I call my 'Du Couteau Collection' lol. I also want VelKoz. He's hilarious (have I said that before? I think he's hilarious).

As always, thanks for your faves/follows and reviews! I haven't replied to most reviews, mostly because it's been a while since I used ffnet, so I wasn't quite sure how, but I think I figured it out, so from now on, I'll probably reply and at least thank you for reviewing, since I really REALLY appreciate you guys taking the time to leave one.


	7. Chapter 7

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 7: The Auditions

* * *

It was the day of the auditions. And everyone was nervous.

Katarina and Garen were veterans of war, heroes of their city-states; they were no strangers to battle, war, and death. Fear was not something that found them often, and it usually only arose on the battlefield in a particularly dangerous sitatuation. Even then, it would not stop them or hinder their movements.

But this audition?

Katarina and Garen would never admit it out loud—especially to each other—but they were scared; they were nervous. And the nerves were getting to them.

As everyone stretched, Katarina found herself breathing more rapidly than normal, messing with her hair and biting her bottom lip. She took several deep breaths as she noticed her unusual behavior, and she noticed the butterflies in her stomach, fluttering uncomfortably.

 _Calm down, Kat_ , she chided herself. _It's just an audition. It's not like you're on the battlefield. Get a grip._

Meanwhile, Garen found himself thinking similar thoughts. _It's not battle, it's nothing to be nervous about. Nobody is going to die, nobody is in danger. It's just dancing._ He swallowed. For whatever reason, those thoughts didn't stop the nervous fluttering in his chest.

Then, Twisted Fate teleported into the room, clipboard in hand. "Howdy, y'all," he said, offering them a smile. "Let's get right down to business. We'll be conducting auditions today. Alphabetical order by first name since, erm, some of us don't have last names. I'll give everyone five minutes to finish preparin'. Please line up in order by the mirror."

The air in the room was tense. Annie would be first, then, and she anxiously twiddled her fingers together and whispered in hushed tones to Amumu. Amumu would follow her, then Blitzcrank, and so on, until they wrapped it up with Orianna.

Katarina sat down beside Garen, both of them leaning against the mirror. Kat couldn't help her straying eyes—he was wearing those tights again, she noticed appreciatively. Then her cheeks reddened as she caught herself and shook the thoughts away.

"Are you ready?" Garen asked her in low tones.

She hesitated before answering with a wry smile. "Kind of."

"Are you nervous, too?" he asked.

She glanced at him and met his eyes. "You're nervous?" she asked, quirking a brow.

He chuckled softly. "For whatever reason, this audition makes me more nervous than a battle does."

She let out a breathless laugh, then sighed. "Me, too," she admitted.

"I'm sure you'll do wonderfully, Kat," he said, placing a hand atop hers and squeezing it gently.

She froze at the contact, the warmth tingling on her fingers. His hand was calloused and rough, from countless battles and hard work wielding his sword. Her own hand wasn't exactly soft, but there was something about his that felt… strong.

She liked strong.

She swallowed, then turned her hand over and linked her fingers with his, squeezing his hand gently. "You'll do great," she told him breathlessly. "Your spinning technique has really come a long way."

He grinned from ear to ear, his eyes twinkling. "Thank you," he said.

"All right, everyone be quiet. We're gonna start now," Twisted Fate announced. "You can leave once you're done with your routine, but if ya wanna stay and offer moral support and see your classmates' auditions, you can." After going through a few more procedures, he called Annie up, and she ran through her routine.

Annie faltered on a few steps, but overall, she did a good job. Amumu clapped once she was done, and Garen joined in, elbowing Kat. She rolled her eyes, but also offered a few claps. Annie smiled and bowed.

"Good job, Annie. Right, then," Twisted Fate said. He'd been taking notes the entire time, and he scribbled a few more lines down before flipping to another page on his clipboard. "Amumu, you're up."

The little mummy stood frozen in place, quivering with nerves until Annie hurried to his side and gave him a hug. She whispered something in his ear.

"Good luck!" Garen whispered to Amumu, and offered him a thumbs up. Kat offered what she hoped was an encouraging smile, and Amumu seemed to brighten up. He scurried to the center of the room and ran through his routine.

He tripped on his bandage again, but this time, he didn't fall, and he recovered quickly. The rest of his routine went smoothly, and he did a decent job. At the end of his routine, though, tears were in his eyes, and he shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"Now, everyone," Twisted Fate said as he scribbled furiously on his clipboard. "I want ya to take note of Amumu, here. When somethin' unexpected happens durin' the performance, ya gotta roll with it. If ya trip, get right back up and pretend it didn't happen. Ya stumble, pretend it was part of the dance. That's exactly what Amumu did, and that's exactly what you're supposed to do." He looked up at Amumu and gave him a grin. "Good job, Amumu."

Amumu beamed, and tears of joy were in his eyes as he ran to Annie and gave her a hug. Then he ran to Garen and Kat's side and gave them hugs, too, before returning to Annie.

Katarina glanced at Garen, who watched Amumu with a proud grin.

"You're too attached to the kid," Kat muttered under her breath, "you only talked to him for the first time yesterday."

"True friendship does not have to be old friendship. I'm happy for him," Garen said. "Don't pretend like you aren't. I saw you smile earlier."

Kat started. "I did not," she said.

"Yes, you did," he told her. "You were happy for him."

Katarina opened her mouth to argue, then decided against it. He was right, after all. She _was_ happy for the little mummy, stupid as it was.

"Whatever," she grumbled, and he laughed.

Garen thought it was endearing, the way she pretended she didn't care when she most certainly did. His thoughts were interrupted by Twisted Fate calling Blitzcrank forward.

Blitzcrank ran through his routine quickly, if somewhat… stiffly. To be fair, he _was_ a robot with certain limitations to his form. Afterwards, he clicked a bit and his eyes blinked as he waited for Twisted Fate to dismiss him.

"Good job, Blitzcrank," Twisted Fate said after writing some lines down. Blitzcrank seemed to dance a bit before returning to the mirror and speaking to Orianna. "All right, up next… Cho'gath."

Cho'gath turned to Kog'maw, who had been sitting happily in a corner and drizzling ooze on only one small section of the floor. "Now Kog'maw," Cho'gath said sternly, and the little void creature perked up as he listened intently, "Behave yourself. If I have to stop my audition to ensure you don't wreck the floor or some other upholstery, you will be in a large deal of trouble, young man."

Kog'maw nodded. "Go dance! Go dance! I stay here! I good boy."

Cho'gath patted Kog'maw on the head before walking onto the dance floor. Unlike the others in the studio, Cho'gath was exempt from the dance attire regulations. He had nonetheless found himself a white shirt, and black leggings for each of his legs. He wore dance slippers on two of his feet, which he placed firmly on the ground.

"All right, whenever you're ready," Twisted Fate announced, and Cho'gath began the routine.

Cho'gath obviously took the audition very seriously, and he performed his routine with an air of grace and delicacy. He had some difficulty with the leaps, but he performed them with determination nonetheless. Once he was done, he procured a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"My, what a workout," he said.

"Good job, Cho'gath," Twisted Fate said as he scribbled on his clipboard. Cho'gath returned to Kog'maw's side. The creature had, miraculously, been true to his word, and had only drooled onto a a bit of the floor in Cho'gath's absence.

"All right, Garen. Your turn."

Garen took a deep breath and rose to his feet.

"Hey, Garen," Kat said, and he glanced at her where she sat. She offered him a smirk. "Spin to win."

He smiled and trotted to the center of the room, and Kat found her eyes drifting to his butt. He had a nice butt, she decided. Then she was distracted as he began his routine.

He had been practicing, even since yesterday—and it showed. He danced with great enthusiasm, as he usually did, but when he got to the pirouettes, he _glowed_. She couldn't help but smile with him as he spun, and her heart skipped a beat.

Once he was through, he wiped the sweat from his brow.

Twisted Fate's eyes gleamed as he scribbled furiously onto his clipboard. For several minutes following Garen's routine, the room was filled with silence save for the sound of Twisted Fate's pen. Then Twisted Fate looked up. "Good job, Garen," he said, and Garen nodded before returning to Kat's side.

"You did a good job," she whispered to him as he sat down.

He let out a shaky breath. "Thank you," he said. "You helped my nerves, earlier. I truly appreciate that."

She shrugged, avoiding his eyes as her cheeks heated and she found herself giddy at the thought that her words had helped him out. _Damn_ , she thought to herself. _I'm in deep._

"Katarina, you're up."

Katarina swallowed and rose. Garen poked her leg, and she turned to him, surprised at the gesture.

He gave her two thumbs up, and a wide grin. "Spin to win, Kat," he told her, and she smirked.

"Oh, I intend to," she said to him, and when she turned away, she didn't notice the way his cheeks had reddened.

 _She's hot_ , Garen thought, unable to lie to himself. _My god, she's hot._

When she performed her routine, she performed it flawlessly; Garen couldn't help but admire her. She really _could_ spin to win; if they were in a contest, her pirouettes would beat his, for sure. She spun with grace and precision, something she'd surely learned through the years when she perfected her death lotus, the dance of blades, beautifully deadly. Just like her.

When she'd finished, Garen waited with bated breath as Twisted Fate wrote something furiously on his clipboard. Just like with Garen's audition, Twisted Fate was silent for several minutes.

Kat swiped some loose hairs out of her face, where they'd fallen from her bun. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg as she waited.

Finally, after several minutes, Twisted Fate finished writing. "Good job, Katarina," he said.

She returned to Garen's side to sit down, and he gave her a hearty clap on the shoulder. "Your spins were superb!" he told her, and she couldn't help but smirk.

"Of course they were. It's me we're talking about, after all," she said, and he shook his head as he chuckled.

Then it was Kog'maw's turn, and the little void creature danced happily. He messed up several steps, but he was having too much fun to notice. Everyone else was too focused on the ooze he was spitting onto the ground in his joy. Once he'd finished his routine, he wiggled from side to side and hummed to himself.

Twisted Fate held back a grimace and offered a strained smile. "Good job, Kog'maw," he said. Kog'maw happily waddled to Cho'gath's side, who petted the little void creature on his head.

"All right. Orianna, you're the last one up."

Orianna walked forward and went through her routine. It was like she was born—or, er, _made_ —to dance. She danced beautifully, and everyone was impressed by her.

Twisted Fate took the longest time to write down comments for her. Once he was done, he nodded. "Good job, Orianna." Then he gestured to everyone.

"Well, everyone did a fine job today, folks," he said, smiling. "You've all been workin' hard, and I want to congratulate each and every one of you. Now, the results'll be posted next class outside the door. We'll also have our first rehearsal for the show next time, and each of you will have to work a little bit more outside class to make sure ya get your parts down.

"Good job, everyone. I'll see y'all on Tuesday!" And then he teleported away, and their classmates began to file out of the room.

"I hate when he does that," Garen muttered. Kat rolled her eyes.

"It's just—" she said.

"—what he does, I know," Garen said, sighing. Then he gave her a grin. "Kat, you did an amazing job. Your pirouettes were—they were gorgeous."

She blushed, and offered him a grin in return. "You did great, too, Garen," she told him. "You—you have a strength about you that's impressive."

He seemed taken aback. To receive a compliment like that from Kat was… unexpected. In Noxus, strength was the central pillar around which their convictions revolved. Strength was a sign of leadership, of power, and of courage. Strength was respected.

A compliment like that didn't come lightly from a Noxian. Especially one of her caliber.

"I'm honored," Garen said. "For the record, your own strength has impressed me since the day we first clashed blades in battle."

"You mean the time I kicked your ass?" she said teasingly, smirking.

"You didn't kick my ass," he said, "if I remember correctly, I was kicking _your_ ass."

"Oh, really? Because the way _I_ remember it, _someone_ was having a tough time keeping up with me."

"Only because of your shunpo," he said, "and when you came in close, you always had to shunpo _away_."

"Well, I did end up beating you," she said. "So I'd say I won that one."

"True," he admitted, and then he laughed. "I suppose that means you're the stronger of us, is that it?"

She poked him in the chest. "You'd better believe it, Crownguard," she said. "And don't you forget it."

"I don't think I can," he said seriously. The empty room was silent as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Yeah?" she asked. "Why's that?"

When had they gotten so close? Kat wondered in the back of her mind as she leaned closer to him.

"Because I can't stop thinking about you," Garen admitted, his voice breathless. He didn't know why he was being so reckless, only that her gaze was piercing into him, and he needed to press on, to charge forward. Her face was inches from his, and the distance between them closed, and her arms found his.

"Really?" she breathed, and her hands pressed against his chest as his arms wrapped around her waist. "Because I can't stop thinking about you, either."

And then their lips met, and their eyes closed, and nothing else mattered.

* * *

A/N: And finally, there we have it! FINALLY, amirite? Hope y'all enjoyed this one! I think it's the longest chapter yet at almost 6 pages (there's a longer one coming up, but it's not for a while). I'm pretty excited to get this chapter out there-it was one of my favorite ones to write! I can't tell you how many times I've edited this chapter.

Anyway, I got Annie since she's super cheap. Also bought warring kingdoms kat and pool party leona. Still trying to save up ip for cass, though lol. And then it's on to velkoz, cus he's hilarious. That zed glitch is weird-have you guys seen it? I only saw it on youtube. Tahm Kench is also weird-dunno if I want to get him, yet. I might just get him for his quotes-HE HAS QUOTES FOR GAREN AND KAT THAT COULD MAYBE BE CONSIDERED GAREN/KAT. Go look it up-it's great. I don't care, i REFUSE to believe it's anything but garen/kat.

Anyway, my job's only part-time, but it's all day, so it still takes a lot out of me. Sorry for the updates not being conssistent. I'm updating this at 2am (why do i do this to myself). But yeah, hope you guys enjoyed! :D

-edit-

also, to KittyKata (since you didn't have an account so I couldn't reply)- I SURE HOPE YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER, considering your reaction to the previous one xD And you can't ship garen/kat too hard-i mean, look at my username, cmon, i'm in the same boat as you lol. nice name, too :p


	8. Chapter 8

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 8: Devoured

* * *

Unfortunately for Garen and Kat, their kiss did not last long. The door to the studio opened, and the noise caused them both to realize what they were doing and break apart instantly, jumping away from one another as if they were scalding to the touch.

"Oh! Oh, dear… A-am I interrupting something?" Cho'gath asked, one of his pincers covering his mouth in surprise.

"N-no!" Garen stammered as Kat mumbled "Nope."

"Ah, well… I apologize for neglecting to knock before I entered the room," Cho'gath said, a knowing gleam in his eyes. "I'm sorry to bother you, but it seems that Kog'maw forgot his water bottle, and heaven knows Kog'maw needs to keep hydrated." Cho'gath sauntered into the room and collected the water bottle. "We certainly don't need a dehydrated Kog'maw on our hands, now, do we? No, the mess he'd make would surely give our instructor an aneurism." He chuckled. "Well, I'm off. I'll, er… leave you two to it. Please forgive my… _intrusion_." And with that, Cho'gath left the room, chuckling.

Kat and Garen were silent for several long moments, backs turned towards each other, faces red. Finally, they both turned around at the same time.

"I—" Kat said.

"We—" Garen began.

Garen coughed, then gestured for Kat to continue.

She avoided his eyes. "I… We shouldn't have done that."

Garen sighed and ran a hand over his face. "No. No, we certainly shouldn't have."

They stayed that way for a while, both trying to pretend the other wasn't in the room. But that wasn't working—they couldn't stop thinking about their kiss and how… _right_ it had felt.

Kat finally looked at him and sighed, crossing her arms. "We shouldn't have done that… but for the record, you're a good kisser."

Garen was taken aback, and let out a bark of laughter. "The same goes for you," he laughed. Then he scratched his cheek abashedly, "I enjoyed it. And I…" he hesitated before continuing, "I wouldn't mind if… we… well, I know it isn't good for our city-states, but…"

Kat quirked a brow, feeling her heart flutter. "But…?" she prompted.

"I… well, if you wanted to, I mean, I wouldn't mind… uh…" He cleared his throat. "If you would not mind it, I would be honored if we could continue to pursue our… uh… relationship."

"Relationship," Katarina echoed, testing out the word. She let out a breathless laugh. "What, so you're interested in an actual relationship, Garen?"

Garen swallowed. "I… Yes. Yes, I am," he admitted.

Kat was silent for several moments before shaking her head. "We shouldn't."

Garen sighed. "You're right, of course," he said forlornly, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"We shouldn't," Kat repeated, and then Garen noticed the tone of her voice, the desperation, as though she were trying to convince herself that her words were true… and failing. "We really shouldn't."

He was silent, watching Katarina's internal struggle.

Then she laughed quietly, her shoulders shaking as she covered her face with her hand. "Shit," she managed, "Shit."

"Are you all right?" Garen asked, genuinely concerned for her.

"I… I'm fine," she managed between her laughter. Finally, she managed to reign it in, and she met Garen's eyes. "Damn that cockroach," she said, "Damn it to hell."

Garen was confused. "The… cockroach from the rift?"

"Yeah. That one."

"Uh… Why?"

Katarina brushed her bangs from her eyes. "Why do you think?" she asked, seeming strangely embarrassed.

Garen pondered it for a while, but couldn't come up with anything. "I don't know," he admitted.

She grunted, staring at her feet as she kicked the ground. "Because it put us in this position."

"What?"

She grit her teeth. "Do I have to spell it out for you, Crownguard?"

He frowned. "I'm afraid so. I have no idea what you're talking about."

She groaned. "You're impossible," she managed, before a small smile crept onto her lips. She took a deep breath before continuing. "You want a relationship… and I do, too."

Garen's eyes widened. "Oh," he managed.

"Yeah," she agreed.

"Well… that's good!" Garen said, a grin growing on his face, his eyes twinkling. "I… I suppose I should ask you out properly, then?"

She rolled her eyes. "You don't have to."

"No. I do. I _must_. It's the honorable thing to do," Garen said, straightening and walking towards her. He placed his hands on hers and lifted them, and although her face flushed from the gesture, Katarina met his eyes. Garen took a deep breath.

"Katarina Du Couteau, would you like to go out with me?"

She opened her mouth and closed it a couple of times, letting out sputters of air. Finally, she composed herself, and shook her head as she grinned. "Sure," she managed, holding back laughter at Garen's gesture.

Garen beamed. "I… I'm honored, Katarina," he said.

"Yeah? You should be," she said, applying a gentle pressure to his hands, enjoying the contact. "I don't usually date."

"What do you mean?" Garen asked, confused.

Katarina rolled her eyes. "My… _commitments_ don't usually last more than a night."

Understanding set in. "Ah," Garen said, and he reddened. "I… see."

"I'm sure it's the same for you," she said dismissively. "The army doesn't leave time for much else."

"Uhh… Well…That was… actually my first kiss."

Kat's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. "W-what?" she stammered.

"That was my first kiss," Garen repeated, face turning red. For the first time, Kat noticed that his ears turned red as well. "I… well, I've never had much… time. To pursue a relationship. Like you said, the army doesn't leave time for much."

Kat considered his words before leaning towards him, a smirk on her face. She draped her arms over his shoulders, and his eyes widened, and he swallowed as she lowered her eyelids and gave him a sultry look.

"So you're a _virgin_ , Crownguard?" she asked breathily.

He gulped. "I… ah… that—that is, uh, well—" he stammered as her smirk widened.

"My, my. Who'd have thought the Might of Demacia was so innocent?" Her hand trailed idly up his arm, and she traced his shoulder, his neck, and finally placed a delicate finger upon his lips. "Are you sure you want me to _spoil_ you?"

Garen swallowed, and his voice was noticeably higher when he responded. "I… Kat, please stop. It's too early for that."

She pouted. "Fine," she relented, leaning away from him. Then she smirked, leaning forward and putting her mouth by his ear. "But think of that as a promise," she whispered, and she was close enough to see the way his adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

Satisfied with his reaction, she boldly gave him a quick peck on the cheek before finally leaning away from him. "See you later, Garen," she said.

Garen was still stunned as she gathered her things to leave. She was almost out the door when he finally found his voice.

"Kat—Kat, wait!" he exclaimed, and she turned to him, a lopsided grin on her lips.

"Yeah?"

"I… can we… that is, uh…" he cleared his throat. "What's your phone number?" he asked.

She laughed. "Don't worry. I'll get it to you." Then she winked, and she left, the door closing softly behind her.

Garen stared at the door where she had been just moments ago, and his heart thudded rapidly against his chest. A beaming smile grew on his face, and he did something very uncharacteristic of the Might of Demacia—he whooped and jumped, punching the air.

"You're one smooth fucker, Crownguard," he told himself proudly, nodding to himself as he gathered his things.

Later that evening, after Garen had just finished showering, he found a small piece of paper in the entryway. Someone had slid it under the door, and when he examined it and found a phone number written in a small, almost untidy scrawl, he knew who had left it for him.

* * *

A/N: Garen, you are definitely _not_ smooth at all, but we love you anyway xD Also, yeah, I decided to include technology in this world, because it's just super convenient that way. Do you think Garen would send Kat cute pictures of kittens? I feel like he'd do that.

Thus commenceth the cute-I command it! Fluff? Yeah. It's like, embarrassing yet oh-so-satisfying to write them like this. Lol.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. The next one is actually suuuper long and a little more serious, actually. That's about as serious as this fic is gonna get, though, and I chalk it up to character development. Lol.

In other news, I really love my new job. It's not the best, but it's pretty easy and everyone's laid-back and nice. I also managed to complete my Du'Couteau collection -w- heh. Next up is Vel'koz. And after that, we'll see. I haven't been able to play normals lately because my home internet sucks :( so i basically just play arams all day. Kinda boring after a while, but at least i get to try out the free champs. Fizz is fun, but when i have 300 ping, nobody is really fun... My little sister watches a lot of anime and netflix; i don't make her stop, though, cuz i am a good big sister T-T

i got the warring kingdoms kat skin. It's so great. I feel like I literally cannot play poorly with that skin, it's impossible. I always get great ratios when I use that skin. I love it so much.

My friend gave me suggestions for the title of this chapter, actually. I couldn't think of anything xD


	9. Chapter 9

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 9: Dinner

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kat," Garen said. He called her immediately after finding her number, and he couldn't keep a silly grin off of his face.

"Hey, Garen," she replied, and he could tell by her tone that she was smirking. "Glad you noticed the paper."

"It was a little hard to miss," he said. As he spoke, he moved to his living room, where he promptly sat on his couch and sunk into the soft cushions. "How are you?" he asked.

"You just saw me a couple of hours ago, I'm fine," she snorted. "What, you think I can't take care of myself?"

"It's just—I'm just—I'm trying to be polite," Garen said, flustered. Her soft chuckle over the phone told him that she was just teasing him.

"Thanks for asking," she said. "I was just about to go get some food."

"Oh," Garen said, his smile faltering, "I—I understand. What—what would be a better time to call you, then, since you're busy?"

"Actually…" Kat said, and she paused a bit. "Actually, now that I think of it, maybe we could get dinner together."

"Like… like a… a date?" Garen asked, his eyes widening.

"Tch. Date sounds so cute and fluffy. I don't like it," she muttered, and Garen laughed.

"But you are cute and fluffy, so it fits," he said teasingly.

"Fluffy?" she asked. "I'm _fluffy_?"

"I—uhh, that sounded much better in my head," Garen said, and they both shared a laugh at that. "So what should we call it if it's not a date?" Garen asked.

He could imagine her rolling her eyes on the other end of the line. "Having dinner together? Going out to eat together?" she supplied. "Call it whatever you like, Crownguard. If 'date' makes you happy, sure, let's go on a… a 'date'."

He laughed at her tone—she had cringed at the word.

"Very well," he said. "I'm not busy tonight."

"Great," Kat said. "I was going to go into town, a little restaurant named King's Banquet."

"I've been there once or twice before," Garen said, remembering. "The little restaurant with the fish tank? Serves Piltover specials?"

"That's the one."

"I didn't know you liked Piltover cuisine," Garen said. "Thought you'd be big into Noxian dining."

"Noxian food gets old after a while," Kat admitted. "Gotta spice it up."

"If you want spicy, go to an Ionian restaurant," Garen laughed.

"That's _too_ spicy," Kat laughed.

"Wait, are you telling me you can't handle spicy foods?"

"I can handle them!" Katarina replied, affronted. "I just don't _like_ them. There's a difference!"

"Suuuure," Garen crooned. "Whatever you say, Kat."

"Ugh, get off my case, Crownguard," she laughed. "By the way, I don't want people to recognize us, especially together. Don't wear your armor or you'll stand out too much."

Garen frowned. He usually went everywhere with at least a little bit of armor on. It was force of habit, but he had found it useful; there had been occasions where he'd been attacked before, and his armor had saved his life. If he were quite honest, there was always the possibility that Katarina was leading him on, and that this was all a trap, and ensuring he had no armor would ensure he couldn't protect himself. But he didn't believe that for a second.

"Hmmm," he mumbled as he got up and headed to his closet. "I have some casual clothes around."

"Good," she said. "People might recognize you, too, since you're famous. Wear a coat. It's winter, nobody will think twice about it."

Garen nodded. "Will do."

"Good. I'll meet you outside the Institute in ten, then?"

"Sure," Garen said. "See you soon."

"See ya."

She hung up, and Garen dressed as quickly as he could.

He was going on a date with Katarina Du Couteau, after all—he didn't want to keep her waiting.

* * *

Katarina shivered as she rubbed her hands together. She brought them to her face and cupped them in front of her mouth, breathing into them in a vain attempt to warm them up. The winters in Noxus were cold, but not this cold; the Western part of Valoran didn't get nearly as cold as the Eastern side, where the Institute of War was located. And of course, in her rush to meet Garen outside, she'd forgotten her gloves like an idiot.

She huffed as she finally gave up on warming her hands and stuffed them into her coat pockets instead. Her sigh was visible in the frigid air, and she watched it as it curled into the air and dissipated. She was standing just outside the Insititute, facing the road that led to the town just a little to the North.

With all the traffic and fame the League had garnered, the local town had blossomed into a thriving city. Because it mostly catered to tourists visiting the Institute of War, who came from all reaches of Valoran and from all walks of life, the city was a cultural hub. It was filled with people from every land, every city-state. And as strange as it was, they all cooperated and worked together; this was perhaps the only place where people could gather and not care about their origins, their loyalties. In that town, it didn't matter whether you were a Demacian or a Noxian, a Zaunite or a Piltoverian. Nationality didn't matter—people didn't even ask. It was perhaps the only place where there was peace between members of different city-states. Truly a marvel, and it existed solely through the efforts of the League of Legends.

Of course, it wasn't a large town, so there wasn't always much going on. But that didn't matter. Because of the tourist economy, the town was still lively even in the later hours of the night; and as it was only late evening, the town was bustling. She could see the activity from her vantage point at the League, which was at a significantly higher altitude than the town.

The door to the Institute opened behind her, and she heard familiar footsteps approaching her. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Took you long enough," she said, allowing a small smirk to cross her lips.

"It only took me seven minutes to get here," Garen replied, "I think I made good time, seeing as how you wanted to meet three minutes from now."

Kat waved her hand dismissively, and he finally stepped into her field of vision. He wore a dark blue coat—of course he would wear Demacian colors—atop a simple white turtleneck and black slacks. He wore a blue scarf around his neck, and the resemblance to his cape was actually astonishing. To her surprise, he had donned a pair of well-worn sneakers, and she laughed.

"What?" he asked.

"Your shoes. I didn't think you'd have tennis shoes, is all," she managed.

His grin was almost a smirk. "I never thought you'd have purple scarves, yet here we are."

"Scarves are nice," she said.

He nodded emphatically. "I agree. Yours looks lovely, by the way."

Kat tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, embarrassed by the simple compliment. "Thanks," she said, "Yours is nice, too. I like the color." _It matches your eyes_ , she added in her mind.

"My sister got it for me several years ago," Garen said as they began walking towards the town. He stared ahead for several moments, before sighing. "She got it for me the summer before she… joined the army."

"Ah," Katarina offered lamely. "So it's only a couple of years old, then?"

Garen sighed again. "No," he answered, "It's several years old. She… she joined when she was young."

Katarina's eyes softened in understanding. It was a rare occurrence for anyone below the age of 18 to join the military, but in special cases, exceptions were made. Katarina herself had been one of those exceptions, joining at the young age of 16—a feat so rare, it was only made possible because of her father's connections in High Command, and her exceptional skills with the blade.

Of course, she'd gone on to botch her first mission, a failure that would remain with her for the rest of her life, the scar on her left eye a constant and painful reminder of duty, and the consequences of failing to perform one's duty. Joining the military at a young age wasn't easy. You were treated like an adult and expected to perform as one—and for prodigies, the expectations were set almost unbearably high. Katarina had worked tirelessly for years to reach her position, and to earn her reputation as the Sinister Blade, to attain Champion status—and although she was a fearsome opponent on the battlefield, she knew well the trials it took to get her there.

So Lux was the same, then? Katarina never would have guessed, though now that she thought about it, the light mage was indeed talented enough. It shouldn't have come as a surprise.

"You must be proud of her."

Garen smiled a little, but Katarina thought the look in his eyes was sad. "I am," he said. "I'm as proud of her as a brother can be. Every day she makes me prouder."

Katarina wasn't sure how to respond, but Garen didn't seem to expect a response; in fact, he seemed lost in thought as they continued down the paved road towards the town.

"You're proud of your sister, too, I'll bet," Garen said after a few minutes of silence.

Katarina sighed, a wry smile on her lips. "Proud? Yeah, I guess so. She's something else, all right." Then she chuckled under breath. "She's definitely a handful."

"It's the same way with Lux. She's such a smart kid, but boy, does she know how to break the rules."

"Break the rules? Please. Demacians don't know the meaning. But Cass? Oh, she knows how to _make_ the rules, not just break them."

"You'd be surprised by Lux," Garen said, smiling. "She's the most gifted strategist I've seen. Tactical decisions are her forte."

Katarina raised an eyebrow in surprise. She had to admit, she'd never thought the Lady of Luminosity was a strategist—she seemed too cheerful and bubbly for that. Perhaps Garen was right, and she had underestimated her. "She is, is she?"

"Absolutely. Her tactics have been implemented in several battles successfully; Jarvan's even started asking for her advice on most decisions he makes. She also helped invent the guard rotation that's made your assassination attempts so much harder." Garen gave her a gentle nudge with his shoulder.

Katarina was impressed, now. A few months ago, Demacia had gotten smarter about their guard rotations and coordinated the placement of the guards much more practically. There were always at least two guards guarding any given area, and they were always in sight of another pair of guards. It made assassinations much trickier; not impossible, especially for an assassin of Katarina's skill level, but certainly more difficult. She'd wondered when they'd gotten so much smarter—and it seemed she had Lux to thank.

"Damn," she managed, "I definitely underestimated her. Anything else I should know about her?"

"I hope not," Garen said, sobering quickly, "The last thing I want is for you two to meet on the battlefield.

Katarina was silent at that. She hadn't given it any thought before, but if Demacia and Noxus broke their temporary peace, she and Garen would have to fight. They'd faced each other before in battle, so that wasn't really what concerned Kat—their fights usually ended in a stalemate, anyway, since she could easily run away from him, and he could easily deflect her blades. But if she met Lux on the battlefield, there was no telling how their battle would end; one of them would likely end up dead. Lux's death would surely devastate Garen; on the other hand, if Lux killed Garen's girlfriend, he would be equally devastated.

She hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"I guess we'll just have to ensure our city-states don't start fighting again, then," Kat said.

Garen's frown abated. "I guess so," he agreed.

They walked the rest of the way to the restaurant in a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

When they arrived, the hostess seemed to recognize Kat, and grinned at her.

"Welcome back, Miss! The usual?" Then she spotted Garen, and her eyes widened.

"Table for two," Katarina said, and Kat noticed that she'd begun to rub her hands together in an effort to warm them.

"All right, right this way, then," the young hostess said and led them to a table to be seated.

The waitress asked what drinks they'd like, and Katarina answered swiftly, ordering her favorite wine for the both of them. They ordered their meals and waited for the food to come out.

Kat was bored. So she decided to not be bored.

"I can't get over the fact that you're a virgin," she stated.

Garen's ears reddened immediately, and he sputtered, "Wh-why are you bringing that up?"

"Because we have nothing else to talk about."

"We're in public, Kat, we can't just talk about things like that!"

"Why not? Nobody cares," Kat said, waving her hand.

"I—I'm not comfortable with that sort of talk—we're out in public, Kat," Garen said, tugging on his earlobe in embarrassment.

Kat noticed the gesture and laughed, leaning forward across the table, and poking his arm.

"You're tugging your ear," she observed.

"Nervous habit," Garen mumbled as he withdrew his hand.

"Any other nervous habits?"

Garen thought about it for a while. "Incoherence?" he supplied.

"What?"

"Exactly," Garen said. "I can become incoherent when I'm nervous."

Katarina quirked an eyebrow. "Huh," she said.

"While I am not eloquent by any means, I become very tongue tied when I'm nervous," he explained.

"Not eloquent, hm?" Kat smirked. "Well, the way you handle your sword makes up for that."

Garen laughed. "I've spent my whole life training with swords—I'm glad I measure up."

"Not as good as I am with my blades," Kat continued, "but still good."

"Of course, whatever you say," Garen laughed.

They were interrupted by their food arriving, and they began to eat promptly. Katarina was surprised to note that Garen ate very carefully and slowly. She, on the other hand, devoured her food as quickly as she could.

"You're hungry," Garen said, amused.

"Been fighting all day, dancing, training—lot of exercise," Kat said between mouthfuls. "I get hungry."

"I would imagine so," Garen replied, "but you're wolfing it down." He chuckled.

"Shaddup," she said between bites, "I'm hungry, damn it."

"All right, all right, I'll let you eat in peace," Garen laughed.

Once Katarina had finished her meal, she let out a contented sigh and leaned back in her chair. Garen wasn't done with his meal yet, but he was amused at how quickly she'd eaten hers.

"Why do you eat so slowly," Katarina asked as she watched him deftly cut some chicken and eat it, chewing it slowly and thoroughly.

He swallowed before he replied. "Well, I grew up in the court alongside the Prince. Manners are of the utmost importance when you are among the nobility."

Katarina snorted. "But we're not among the nobility."

"You're a noble. I'm a noble. Therefore, we're among nobility," Garen countered. "As such, I must have manners."

Katarina rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Garen ate a few more bites before interrupting their silence.

"You know, I… forgive me if this is too personal a question, but I've always wondered—and especially considering the other day, I—how in the world are you related to Cassiopeia? I mean… she's… and you're…?"

Katarina sighed. "She's half snake, and I'm not?"

When she put it that way, Garen felt ashamed for asking. "I'm sorry, if it's too personal—"

"No, it's fine," Kat said, waving her hand. "I… she's human. Well… she _was_. She… she went into the Shurima desert, found an old tomb, killed Sivir—"

"She _what_?"

"—resurrected Xerath, and also Azir, but she got bitten by some kind of guardian in the process, which cursed her to become half snake. Maybe it's less a curse and more a blessing, though. She took it pretty hard at first, but now she's actually pretty happy with her appearance, and she loves her new powers."

"Th…" Garen managed, "That's quite a story."

"Mmm. When she first showed up at home like that, we weren't sure it was actually her. Took us all by surprise."

"I would imagine so."

Katarina made a small humming noise before taking a sip of her wine. "All right, I've told you about my sister. You tell me about yours."

Garen sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"She's a light mage, right? What does that mean?" Katarina asked. "All I'm able to see in our matches is that she can use light to attack and shoot out laser beams of death."

Garen laughed. "A laser beam of death—I'll have to tell her that one, she'll love it." After his chuckles abated, he frowned. "That's not all she can do, though. She… her spells have a lot of uses."

Katarina quirked an eyebrow. "Hm."

"She… she can bend light to make herself invisible," Garen admitted. "I shouldn't really be telling you these things, though. That's… it's not exactly public information, you know?"

Katarina thought about it for a moment, and then it clicked. Her jaw dropped, and her eyes widened. "She's a spy?" she asked.

Garen hesitated briefly, visibly distraught, before letting out a heavy sigh and lowering his gaze. "Yes," he said quietly.

Why was Garen acting so morose? What was up with that? Katarina wasn't sure, but she knew that she could either press for more information, or she could try to comfort him. She wanted to know more about Lux—about Garen's bright, cheerful sister who was apparently a lot darker than she seemed—but seeing Garen upset made her heart clench.

She reached across the table and laid a hand gently across his, offering a small squeeze of comfort as she intertwined their fingers.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Katarina said, "Sorry if I asked something too personal."

Garen shook his head. "No… No, I… it's just… Lux's… _career_ … is a little bit of a sore spot for me." With his free hand, he reached for his wine and downed it in one go. "I just… she never wanted to join the army."

"You mentioned she joined young," Katarina remembered, "Was she drafted?"

Garen shook his head. "No. Demacia doesn't have a draft. It…" His jaw set. "No. It was our parents."

At her confused expression, Garen hurried to explain, "They signed her over to military custody when she was just thirteen."

Katarina was silent as she took in that information. A frown formed on her lips, and Garen was sure that frown was mirrored on his own face.

"Against her will?" Katarina asked.

Garen let out a shaky breath. He had never talked to anyone about this before, except for Jarvan, who hadn't been able to do anything about it (he'd tried many times, to no avail). He could feel his emotions beginning to overwhelm him, but for some reason, he couldn't stop—he had to keep talking, to let this out, finally, after so long.

"Yes. They took her in the middle of the night. I wasn't even home to stop it." He shook his head. "Our mother must have done that intentionally—she knew I wouldn't let Lux be taken. She waited until I had been deployed to the front before letting the army take Lux. I looked into it once I heard about what had happened—and apparently, she put up a fight." Garen's voice was a whisper, shaking with raw emotion, and he blinked back tears.

"I'm sorry," Katarina managed, "it must have been hard on both of you."

Garen took a shuddering breath, taking several moments to compose himself. "It was," he eventually replied, "I didn't see her for years. When we finally saw each other again… she was different. I was different. War had… changed us."

Katarina's free hand drifted to her hip, fingering a knife sheathed on her belt as she thought on his words, and an unexpected rage filled her. How could their parents do that to them? Their own mother and father enlisted their daughter—a child—into the military against her will. How was that even _legal_? Even in Noxus, nobody under the age of eighteen was allowed to join the army without approval—and that approval wouldn't be given if the minor in question didn't want to join.

Despite all their talk of honor and righteousness and justice, Demacia was just another twisted city-state.

She wasn't sure what to say—if there was anything she _could_ say. So she just squeezed his hand, letting her thumb rub circles on the back of his hand as several minutes passed in silence while Garen composed himself.

"So now you know," he said weakly, a rueful smile touching his lips. His free hand found the scarf around his neck and tugged at it gently. "She gave this to me before… that happened."

And suddenly, Katarina realized how significant a gesture it was for him to wear something so precious on their date, and her heart swelled with emotion, her previous anger all but forgotten.

"You must treasure it, then," she said quietly.

He nodded. "I do. It's my most treasured possession."

They sat in comfortable silence after that, and then Garen sighed before offering a smile. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make this experience so… emotional."

She shrugged. "This is all about getting to know each other better, right? So it's fine—we're getting to know each other."

His grin grew, turning lopsided. "You're right," he agreed, and with that, he jovially began eating again, letting go of her hand in the process.

She was slightly off-put by the absence of his hand. Her own hand felt cold, now, and although his fingers were rough and his palm was calloused, she missed the feeling of his hand holding hers. She fought back a frown as she withdrew her hand and placed it in her lap, curling her fingers slightly.

With her other hand, she drummed her fingers against the table, watching him eat. He was well-mannered, of course, but every now and then, as he chewed his food, he would open his mouth accidentally and close it quickly. If she hadn't been watching him closely, she wouldn't have noticed—but up close, with her keen eyes on his face, she couldn't miss it.

When he did it again, she chuckled. He swallowed his food, his ears reddening.

"What?" he asked.

"Sometimes you chew with your mouth open," she said, smirking. _It's cute_ , she thought—but she'd never tell him that.

He tugged at his ear in embarrassment. "I… yeah, sometimes I do that. Not on purpose, though."

"I didn't think you'd do it on purpose, Mister 'You're a noble, I'm a noble, so I have manners'".

"Well, _one_ of us has to," Garen laughed. "You certainly don't. How in the world did you survive in Noxus with those manners?"

She rolled her eyes. "I can act the part when I have to, Garen. Maybe I'll show you someday." It really was an act when she behaved in a prim and proper manner—and she didn't feel like wearing any masks around Garen, putting on any facades. Not with him.

"I get to see the real you, then?" Garen asked as he arranged his silverware and napkin on the table—he had finally finished eating.

"Took you long enough," she said, dipping her head in the direction of his finished food. "And yeah—consider it a privilege."

"I will," he replied, and the twinkle in his eyes set her heart thudding in her chest.

With that, Katarina called for the check. They had a bit of an argument over who would pay—Garen insisted that, as a gentleman, it was his duty to pay for their dinner; she argued that she was perfectly capable of paying for her own food, and his as well. In the end, they ended up splitting the check evenly, although they were both less than satisfied with that arrangement.

Still, that little disagreement didn't darken their moods, and at Garen's suggestion, they walked around the town. Night had fallen, and the moonlight shed soft yet bright light upon them as they traversed down the streets, simply talking about their pasts.

She told him about her life growing up in Noxus, about joining the military at sixteen, about her first mission—and her first scar—and how Talon had joined their family, and how her Father had vanished. She was saddened when she discussed her father, and Garen comforted her much as she had comforted him earlier, and when she had finally finished venting her frustrations with her failures to find him, and tears were threatening to leak from her eyes, he gave her a gentle hug, and she leaned into it, into him.

When she had recovered, he told her of his time growing up in Demacia, and how he had joined the military at a young age, and fought and struggled his way up into the rank he held now. How he had almost failed to rescue his best friend, the Prince, from Swain's clutches, how he had lost countless men and friends in battle. He didn't blame her once, but she knew that they had all died fighting her own city-state, and for the first time, she understood how vital the Institute of War was to their lives.

Without it, they would both still be fighting—perhaps they would even be fighting each other, killing one another. That thought found its way into both their minds, and that made them cherish their time together all the more.

When they finally returned to the League, it was well past midnight, and the sun was only a few hours away from cresting the horizon.

On the steps, Garen hesitated.

"Kat, I—that is, uh, may I—"

"You can kiss me," she smirked, anticipating his question.

Garen closed his mouth, which had been hanging open, and let out quiet chuckle. She was already closing her eyes and leaning towards him, so he closed the distance between them and brought his mouth to hers.

Their kiss was slow and sweet, both of them savoring the press of the other's lips against their own, and when they finally broke the kiss, both of them were smiling. They pressed their foreheads together, staring into each other's eyes.

"I hope you had a good time, tonight, Kat," Garen said softly.

"I did," she replied.

"I did, too."

"I… I had a _really_ good time. I haven't… I haven't had this much fun in a long time," she admitted, staring into his deep cobalt eyes as though they held the answers to the mysteries of the world.

"We'll have to do it again, then."

"Definitely," she breathed, her eyes darkening with an emotion he couldn't recognize. And then she brought their lips together, and she took his breath away with the intensity behind the kiss, a desperate need behind her every movement that sent shivers down his spine.

When she broke the kiss, their breathing was ragged, and they looked into each other's eyes again.

"See you tomorrow, Garen," she breathed, smirking.

"See you tomorrow," he replied, his voice just as breathy as hers. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before she pulled away from him, letting her hands trail down his arms and her hands meet his. They held hands for a few moments before she squeezed his, and then drew away from him, towards the doors. With a wink he almost didn't catch in the darkness of the night, she opened the door and then slipped into the shadows, disappearing from sight.

It took him forever to remember how to breathe.

* * *

A/N: Hi, guys! Sorry for the long break between updates. I've been busy with my new job (I come home tired and just fall asleep ;-; i hate that). Hope the length of this chap makes up for it (it's the longest chapter so far). Anyways, this is about as serious as the story will get; everything from here on out will be much lighter. This chapter took me a long, long, loooong time to write, so I'm actually not too many chapters ahead of this... I'm pretty distraught about that lol. Actually, we're nearing the end of it. Just a couple of big events left to cover, and that'll be it.

Finally got Vekoz, then went 13-0 as Kat in TB. Heh. How do you guys like the Bilgewater event? I think it's pretty cool, but the map seems a little busy to me. Not that I'm complaining-I enjoy it. One thing, though-I haven't been in a match where all 10 people have fed the rat thing! Does it pop like the poros? UUughhh I want to find out (don't tell me, I wanna find out on my own)

If you're looking for some good Talon/Lux (i ship it pretty hard), I have to recommend my favorite ongoing fic right now, _**How the Light Bends**_ , by **MeltedJellybeans**. Go check it out! If you're more of an Ezreal/Lux shipper (i dont ship it but i read it), let me recommend _**The Relic**_ , by **xoxopigtails**. Really good so far-definitely deserves a read!

Anyways, I really appreciate y'all's support! Thank you for the faves/follows, and as always, I want to take a moment and thank all of you who've left reviews-they're all appreciated :3

 **KittyKata** : I absolutely agree that Kat's the type of woman who loves to tease others (though I guess that's kind of obvious in the way I write her lol). Thank you so, soo _so_ much for your reviews-they are _super_ awesome, and I'm thrilled that you're liking the story so far! Your enthusiasm actually really amps me up, gets me in a writing mood, so I actually really love your reviews! :3

 **kiskaex** : Thanks for the review! I try hard to get it to flow, but I'll admit that I've noticed a tendency to use simple sentences and cliche's in my writing. It's something I'm working on, so this feedback is helpful-means I'm improving! :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 10: Late

* * *

Garen was late. He'd never been late to class before, but as he hopped on one leg, trying to keep his balance as he pulled on his black tights, he cursed himself for losing track of time earlier. He'd been working on a little project, and while he was more than satisfied with the progress he'd made, he had completely forgotten to watch the clock on his wall in the kitchen.

It had been a text from Katarina which had actually distracted him from his project. He saw who had sent it and read it immediately.

"Coming to class?" was all it read, but his eyes had widened as he'd glanced at the time on his phone—and he let out a cry as he realized that his ballet class would start in five minutes. Usually, he was punctual—arriving fifteen minutes early in order to change and ready his things for class, and he would sit in class until Katarina arrived a few minutes after him, and they would wait for Twisted Fate to arrive. She'd probably been sitting alone, wondering where he was.

He'd raced to the changing rooms, and now he cursed under his breath as he noticed a tear in his tights—but oh well, too late to do anything about it now, he was already late. He pulled his white shirt over his head and then slid his slippers onto his feet before running towards the dance room.

He was in such a rush that he missed the sheet of paper that was attached to the door before he wrenched it open and tore inside the room. He was ten minutes late, and the class was already at the bars, practicing some dance moves as Twisted Fate walked around. When Garen entered the room, all eyes turned to him, and Twisted Fate let out a grunt.

"Good of you to join us, Crownguard," he said. "I trust you took a look at the results?"

Garen's eyes widened. The sheet of paper on the door outside! He'd forgotten to look at the results of the audition!

"N-no, sir, I forgot," he said, panting from his run. From the corner of his eye, he saw Katarina's curious look turn to a smirk.

Twisted Fate snorted. "We'll go over it later. Right now we're runnin' through some numbers for some moves everyone needs to know. Go to your partner, and we'll continue."

Garen grimaced as he walked beside Katarina, who had a gleam in her eyes that he knew meant she was going to tease him later.

"You made it," she said in undertones once he had taken position next to her along the bars.

"Wouldn't miss it," he grunted in reply as Twisted Fate began to run over the next set of exercises.

Garen regretted not having stretched before beginning, but luckily, he had run through a daily routine of stretches earlier in the day, so he hoped that would suffice and he wouldn't pull any muscles.

Once they had all run through the routine a few times and had it mostly correct, Twisted Fate cleared his throat.

"Now, since everyone knows their roles, I've brought in a few helpers to coach y'all in smaller groups. I'll go ahead and let them introduce themselves."

Suddenly, to the surprise of everyone in the room except for TF, Evelynn appeared, a smile on her lips that bordered almost on a smirk.

"Hello, class," she greeted them, and Garen felt a shiver run down his spine. He hoped she wouldn't be coaching him—although he was not scared of her, there was something about Evelynn that set him on edge and made him wary. Beside her, Twisted Fate was stiff, his face emotionless and blank.

"As y'all know, Miss Evelynn is also a dance instructor for the League," Twisted Fate said in a monotonous voice, "and she's agreed to help. Orianna and Blitzcrank, she'll be teaching you two privately."

Orianna turned her head. "I look forward to dancing with you, Evelynn," she said, her robotic voice attempting to add a joyous inflection that sounded more like a hiccup.

Evelynn's smile only grew wider. "Follow me, and we'll get started right away." With that, they left, and the room was quiet for a time as Twisted Fate glared at the door where they had left.

"Mr Twisted Fate, are you okay?" Amumu asked timidly. TF jerked at the question, and let out a heavy sigh.

"I dunno, kid," he mumbled. And then he sniffed, and then sniffed once more before bursting into sobs. Katarina visibly recoiled from the unexpected action, and even Garen drew back, taken by surprise at the outburst.

"I just—I don't know," Twisted Fate sobbed, and Garen shuffled forward awkwardly to pat the man on his back.

"Still not over her, huh?" Garen asked softly, and Twisted Fate's sobs only grew louder. Garen continued to gently pat the man on the back as he sobbed. A couple of years ago, when the League had still been fairly new, Twisted Fate and Evelynn had been an item, and Twisted Fate had been devoted to her. When she casually broke it off, the gambler had been devastated, and if his reaction now was any indication, he'd never quite recovered.

Katarina sidled up next to them and crouched forward, looking into Twisted Fate's scrunched up face.

"Pull it together," she said not unkindly, and Twisted Fate drew in a ragged breath, his chest still heaving. "You have a class to conduct, you still have other instructors to introduce. You're scaring the kids."

Garen glanced at Annie and Amumu and found that they did indeed seem frightened; even Kog'maw seemed uncomfortable, as he shuffled from foot to foot and seemed to be burping up an abnormal amount of green fluid. They were used to seeing TF as a leader figure in their classes, not as a man with a broken heart.

Twisted Fate took several moments to stifle his sobs, and then he drew in several shaky breaths as he pulled his hat off his head and wiped his eyes and nose with his sleeve. "Damn, I'm a mess," he muttered under his breath.

"We all have our issues," Katarina said, taking his hat from him and putting it back atop his head. "That's why we have alcohol."

Twisted Fate chuckled at that, and a small smile found his lips. "Thanks," he said to the pair, and they took that as their cue to return to their places.

"Right. Sorry for the interruption," Twisted Fate said. His voice was slightly stuffy, but it had regained its confidence and authority. "I think our other instructor is outside, so I'll fetch him. He teleported away, and a few moments later, the door opened and Twisted Fate held the door open as a small yordle waddled inside.

"Hiya!" said the furry yordle, and Garen's eyebrows rose. He had not expected the yordle before him to have any skills in dancing—but it seemed he was wrong.

Teemo stood before them, his eyes closed in a wide smile, and his gloved hand waved at them as Annie and Amumu waved back.

"Teemo has agreed to teach Annie, Amumu, Kog'maw, and Cho'gath, since you all are in the same numbers."

Teemo squinted at them, his smile never wavering as he nodded.

"Pardon me for asking, but I must say, I'm intrigued—however did you find yourself involved in the art of dance, Teemo, if you don't mind me asking?" Cho'gath said as he began to herd Kog'maw towards the scout.

"Well, we have a little dance troop in the scouts, to keep us busy; all the yordles in the League are part of it. I joined when I was pretty new to the job, and I've never left. I'm not as good as Twisted Fate or Evelynn, but I can teach you everything you need to know for these roles!" He gave them a thumbs up, and with that, the group left and followed Teemo as he led them swiftly down the hall to another dance room.

Garen and Katarina were the only ones left.

"You two will be studying with me," TF said, and Katarina nodded.

Garen cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm sorry, sir, but since I didn't quite manage to read the roles…"

Twisted Fate nodded. "Right. Well, Garen, I want ya to know that it took a lot of time and thought to cast you, but I realized that, after seeing you interact with the kids the other day, you have a pure heart. And that pure, kind heart is ideal for the role you've been assigned. You're a perfect fit. The, ah, stage manager insisted that this role be filled by someone like you."

Garen's heart thudded in his ears. Who… who was he going to be? Perhaps he'd been cast as the Sugar Plum Fairy—the purest, most enchanting dancer—or perhaps he'd been cast as The Nutcracker, who would fight the evil Rat King, in order to protect—

"Clara."

Garen's expression grew confused, and he turned to a smirking Kat, who had spoken up.

"What?" he asked.

With mirth in her eyes, she said, "You're Clara."

* * *

A/N: Have you seen the ridiculous Teemo buff? HE THROWS HIS FREAKING SHROOMS WTF IS THIS (i love it omfg lmao). I actually decided to include Teemo as a joke, but the timing of this is good, so I'm a happy camper lol.

Yes. Garen is Clara xD BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING. haha. I actually had planned for him to be the nutcracker, but then this idea struck, and that was that.

The TF/Evelynn bit is what I got from the JoJ when I read them a while back. It was hilarious, the poor guy.

Anyway, hope y'all are enjoying the story, and see ya next time!

Guest: The technology is just for convenience. Chalk it up to lazy writing lol. And, well, this fic isn't an Ez/Lux fic. That's not a pairing in this one (sorry to anyone who was hoping it would be). But it also won't be Talon/Lux, either. Lux isn't dating anyone currently; it's not really something I'm interested in including in this story. My mention of those pairings previously was just me giving shoutouts to some of my friends' fics (which are awesome, u should definitely read them)


	11. Chapter 11

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 11: Roles

* * *

" _What_?" he asked again, dumbfounded.

"You're Clara," she repeated once more, and this time, she poked him in the shoulder, "you should be happy. She gets some good numbers with lots of spins."

"I… I'm… Clara?" He was still dumbstruck.

"Yup," Twisted Fate said, "and y'all two have a lot of numbers together, so we need to get started soon."

"Wait," Garen said, somehow managing to collect his thoughts, "Isn't Clara supposed to be a girl?" It wasn't that Garen had anything against playing a girl—it was just that, with his bulky figure… well, it would certainly be a little strange, wouldn't it?

"We here at the League pride ourselves on being progressive," TF explained, scratching his chin, "though if you don't want the role, I can speak with the stage manager and—"

"No!" Garen exclaimed, then cleared his throat. "No," he repeated in a quieter voice, "I do want the role. It will absolutely assist me in perfecting my spinning technique."

Kat snorted in amusement, and TF clapped his hands together.

"All right, that's settled, then! So, let's work on the first number…"

The rest of their lesson was spent working on grueling steps, and the students were exhausted by the time Twisted Fate called their lesson to a halt.

"Good job today, y'all. Next class we'll start working on some of the more difficult steps. 'Till then," Twisted Fate said before teleporting away.

"I hate—" Garen began.

"—when he does that, yeah, yeah," Kat replied.

Garen shrugged, and Kat decided to change the topic.

"So why were you late?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him curiously.

Garen blushed under her gaze and scratched the back of his head. "I got distracted. Didn't pay attention to the time. I would have missed this class entirely if you hadn't texted me."

Kat snorted. "Next time let me know, I'll skip with you."

Garen laughed. "I don't intend to skip class!"

"Bummer," she said. Then she lowered her voice and said, " 'I don't want to skip class because I want to improve my spinning technique!' "

"Well, you're not wrong, but you sound ridiculous," he laughed.

"That's what you sound like," she countered through a barely-contained smile.

"No, that's what _you_ sound like when you're doing a poor imitation of me."

"Correction: a _perfect_ imitation of you."

"You keep telling yourself that—whatever makes you happy," Garen laughed.

She poked him in the stomach, and to her surprise, he let out a small yelp. Kat quirked an eyebrow. "Ticklish, Garen?" she asked.

His ears reddened, and he shook his head vehemently. "Absolutely not," he replied. "I am not ticklish in any way." But he caught the gleam in her eyes, and he backed away from her. "N-no!" came his weak protest before she bore down upon him, fingers wiggling and a smirk on her lips.

"Are you ticklish… here?" she asked, and then quickly poked him in the side, and he squirmed.

"N-nope!" he managed through clenched teeth.

"Really?" she asked, then moved her hands to the front of his stomach, and she began tickling him there. "How about here?"

At that point, he couldn't help it—even as he flinched away from her touch, a small laugh was torn from his lips.

"Aha!" Kat exclaimed before pouncing.

For the next five minutes, Kat chased Garen around the room, occasionally catching him and tickling him until he managed to escape and run away from her touch.

When Kat finally relented, it was only because Garen grabbed her hands and fixed a kiss right on her nose. She did a double take, and then laughed herself before leaning in for the kiss that followed.

It was a short kiss, but Garen couldn't keep the smile off his face when they pulled apart.

"So what role did you land, Kat?" he asked.

She smirked. "What role do you think?"

"Well, obviously not Clara," he chuckled.

"Obviously. Why don't we leave now, and you can check the results outside?"

Garen liked that idea. He liked that idea a lot. And so they gathered their belongings and left the dance room, and when the door closed behind them, Garen turned and scanned the sheet of paper taped to the door. He saw his own name and his placement before he saw hers—and then he let out a cry and turned and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up before twirling her in the air.

A cry of alarm left Kat's lips before she started laughing. "Put me down, you dork!" she laughed as he spun her, and then he chuckled before gently placing her on the ground.

"You got the part you wanted!" Garen said, excitement coloring his voice. "You're The Nutcracker!"

"Did you expect anything less?" Kat said, her usual smirk having given way to a delightedly smug grin.

"No—of course you'd get the part you wanted," he said, his hand moving to her face and tucking her hair behind her ear. "You deserve it."

Kat tried not to ruin the moment. She really did. But then she snorted and began to laugh. "And you deserve Clara."

Garen stood straighter and gave her a proud grin. "I will do my best to represent the ideals that Clara embodies."

"You already do," she said as she recovered from her laughing fit. "Trust me. You're definitely innocent and pure and caring and all that good stuff."

"I'm glad you think that," Garen said, "But I must continue to improve."

"You're such a dork," Kat muttered before leaning forward and giving him a quick peck on the lips.

He grinned. "Kat, would you like to eat dinner tonight? Together?"

Kat's grin faltered. "I can't," she admitted. "Cass wants to eat dinner with Talon and me. We…" she hesitated as they began heading downstairs to the changing rooms. "We haven't really been… a family… since… since my father disappeared."

"Oh," Garen managed. "That's… I'm sorry."

"No, not your fault," she replied. Then she seemed lost in thought, her gaze looking beyond him, and then she smirked. "Actually," she began, and he side-eyed her at the tone. He recognized that tone—it was a tone he wasn't sure he liked. "Actually, why don't you join us? They won't mind. Cass would probably enjoy the company, knowing her."

Garen hesitated. His last meeting with Cassiopeia hadn't gone badly, and Kat's sister didn't seem to care about their relationship at all (even when they hadn't yet been dating). Still, his few encounters with Talon had been limited to their matches, and during these games, they'd exchanged only the bare necessity of words. It was hard to tell under the man's hood, but Garen was sure that Talon had always glared at him when they'd spoken before. Then again, his face was hidden beneath that cowl, so Garen couldn't be sure; and, come to think of it, the glares were probably because they'd been on opposing teams.

Still, Garen really didn't want to get on the bad side of either Talon or Cassiopeia—he knew how deadly they both were, after all.

"Are you sure they won't mind?" he asked, hoping to alleviate the small bit of fear at the prospect of angering Kat's siblings by showing up to their dinner uninvited.

Kat shrugged. "They won't. If they do, too bad."

Garen… wasn't quite satisfied with that answer, but he supposed it would have to do. Besides, he really wanted to eat dinner with Kat again. "All right," he said.

"Great. We'll be at King's Banquet again," Kat said. "I'll meet you at the front of the Institute at seven thirty. Don't be late." Then she began to back away in the direction of the changing rooms. "Oh, and by the way," she said, smirking. "You've got a hole in your tights. Might want to replace those, though I do enjoy the view."

Garen blushed and glanced down—and, to his horror, he realized the location of the tear in his tights that he'd noticed earlier. It was right on his crotch.

Mortified, Garen raced into the changing rooms.

* * *

A/N: Short chapter. Sorry bout that. Trying to get several chapters ahead so I can keep a consistent update schedule once classes start. Also been moving into dorms. Just 2 more years left, including this one. Woo!

Also, the title rhymes with holes, heh. Oh, Garen.


	12. Chapter 12

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 12: Butts (◕‿◕✿)

* * *

A/N: I dedicate the title of this chapter to my friend. You know who you are (◕‿◕✿)

* * *

He tugged awkwardly at his ear. This was… not what he'd expected.

He sat next to Kat, their hands overlapping on the table in front of them. On the other side of the table sat Talon and Cassiopeia.

Cassiopeia continued speaking… as she had been doing the entire evening.

"…and so I told him, 'you messed with the wrong girl' and then poisoned him. And of course his family didn't take too kindly to that, but what was I to do? Well, I did explain it to them, of course, but they—"

"Cass, shut up," Talon muttered, rubbing his temples.

Garen felt more than saw Katarina tense next to him.

Cassiopeia froze, and her eyes narrowed. She leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms, glancing beside her at her brother.

"What did you say?" she asked, drawing out the 's'.

Talon sighed. "You heard me," he grunted, crossing his own arms.

"And what, dear brother, prompted such an uncalled for—"

"You're talking too much," Talon growled. "It's dinner. You're supposed to eat, not talk."

"Quite to the contrary, brother, socialization is the whole reason I arranged for us to have dinner in the first place," Cassiopeia retorted.

"Guys, please, can we..." Katarina mumbled, frustration evident in her tone, "Can we please get along tonight?"

"Tell that to _him_ ," Cassiopeia sniffed.

"Oh, really? It's all my fault, now?" Talon seethed.

"It's sure as hell not _my_ fault—"

"Guys!" Kat said roughly, and her siblings turned to glare at her. "Guys, please. Can you at least _try_ to pretend we aren't squabbling all the time? You're giving Garen a bad impression."

Talon mumbled something under his breath, but he looked away—his way of acknowledging that he would indeed try not to fight. Cassiopeia opened her mouth, about to say something in reply, but then she closed it after thinking better of it.

Katarina sighed, then slumped him her chair, running a hand through her hair.

"For the record," Garen said, "My family doesn't get along too well. This is pretty civil compared to the arguments that go on in my home."

Katarina raised an eyebrow at that. "Lux?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yeah," he sighed. "But enough of that. Cassiopeia, you were saying something about… uh… poisoning a man…?"

"I don't think my dear brother Talon is too interested in hearing about that right now," Cassiopeia said tersely. Then a devious smile appeared on her lips. "But do tell me, I must know—how did you two end up dating? When did this start? Surely something had to be going on before the ballet class, am I right?"

Both of them turned bright red, to Cassiopeia's amusement.

"I, ah…" Garen sputtered.

"We… we never… uh…" Katarina stumbled for words. "I… well, we did… I mean, well, _I_ did… I always thought he was attractive."

Garen turned at her in surprise. "Really?"

She laughed, not meeting his eyes, a dark blush on her cheeks that matched her hair. "I… actually, when we fought to recover Sion's remains, I remember thinking what a shame it was that I'd have to kill someone so handsome."

Garen blinked, and then he prodded her lightly in the stomach, and she let out squeak. He chuckled.

Talon coughed, and Garen blushed, returning his attention to Katarina's siblings.

"Could you two not… flirt here? It makes me uncomfortable," Talon muttered.

"Oh, nonsense!" Cassiopeia exclaimed, clapping her hands delightedly. "Why, it's the most adorable thing I've seen our little kitty Kat do in a long time!"

"Disgusting," Talon mumbled under his breath as Katarina and Garen blushed in embarrassment.

Cassiopeia, ever the observant host, noticed their discomfort immediately. Usually, she'd be all for making the pair uncomfortable—making others embarrassed was a guilty pleasure of hers—but since tonight was supposed to be a peace offering, of sorts, she decided against indulging herself. Instead, she chose to change the topic back to the original one she'd been pressing for.

"So, please—how did you two meet?"

"On a mission," Kat said simply before taking a rather large sip of wine.

"What sort of mission?" Cassiopeia pressed.

"My troops had dispatched a high-ranking officer of the Noxian troops," Garen said. "We had retrieved his body and were taking him to Demacia, as proof of his defeat."

"And my mission was to recover his remains," Katarina said. She shrugged. "We did it. Wasn't too hard."

"I had thought they were engaging us in full-scale battle. I hadn't realized that they were all assassins until they'd retreated, and we'd lost our cargo."

"And that's how we got Sion back," Kat stated simply.

"Huh," Talon let out, tapping his fingers on the table in front of him. "Can't believe you fell for such a simple trick."

Garen scratched his ear. "You're right… we really weren't expecting assassins—we were expecting soldiers, not people who worked in stealth. I had an entire group of men guarding the cargo—but they were taken out while Katarina kept me busy."

"Seems like an excuse to me," Talon said.

"I don't mean to excuse my failure in any way," Garen said, shaking his head. "I only explain why I failed—but I fully accept the fact that it was my own fault, and I take full responsibility for it."

"Did you get in trouble?" Kat asked, suddenly curious.

Garen shook his head. "Not really. I was reprimanded by the King, and temporarily taken off of duty—but only for a week."

"A mistake like that would leave you off active duty for at least a month in Noxus," Kat mused.

"Usually it would in Demacia, too. But there are some perks to being best friends with the prince," Garen said with smile that bordered on a smirk.

"It's always a good idea to have friends in high places," Cassiopeia said. "You never know when their… _talents_ might come in handy."

"There you go, now you know how we met," Kat said, leaning back in her chair.

"Well, yes, dear," Cassiopeia said, "But I have more questions!"

"What, is this an interrogation?" Kat said in jest.

"But of course!" Cassiopeia tittered. "So, you met during a battle. Then what?"

"What do you mean?" Garen asked, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Well, how did you two interact after that?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Talon muttered. "They fought in other battles. Remember Kalamanda?"

"Oh, yes," Cassiopeia said. "You two fought there, correct?"

"Right," Garen nodded.

"Tried to fight. Time stop didn't let us finish that battle," Katarina corrected.

"Right. So how did you two transition from hating one another to this?"

Talon snorted, and Cass gave him a withering glance.

"What?" she asked him, and he rolled his eyes.

"Nothing," he mumbled, and she decided not to pursue it, though she did give him a displeased hiss.

"I… well, I for one never really… hated her," Garen said.

"It's the same for me," Kat admitted. "I couldn't bring myself to hate him."

"Really?" Cassiopeia asked, intrigued. "So you're telling me you two were attracted to each other even as you were trying to kill one another?"

Kat shrugged, and Garen tugged awkwardly at his ear. And Cass had her answer.

"Kinky," Talon muttered as Cass let out a small giggle.

"So when did you realize that you liked each other?" Cass pressed.

"Ballet class," Garen answered.

"Oh—that's right. How did you convince Kat to join ballet class, of all things?"

" _Kat_ phobia," Garen said gravely.

"God damn you," Kat groaned, smacking him in the arm. " _Katsarida_ phobia, ass." Garen laughed.

At Cassiopeia's raised eyebrow, he elaborated. "There was a roach on the rift when we played a game together. I helped her out by squishing it."

"My hero," Kat said sarcastically.

"She said she owed me one and I called in the favor."

"And why the hell did you want to take ballet class?" Talon wondered.

"To improve his spinning technique," Kat said.

Her siblings raised their eyebrows at that, but they didn't question it aloud. Garen nodded solemnly but offered no further explanation behind his motivation.

"So… he asked you to go to ballet class, and you accepted." At both their nods, Cass continued. "And then… how did you become an item?"

"I… It sort of just.. happened," Garen managed.

"He has a nice butt," Kat joked.

"I do have a nice butt," Garen admitted.

"So you're dating him for his butt?" Talon asked.

"That about sums it up," Kat said, keeping a straight face as Talon grew increasingly confused.

"You… you're dating him…?"

"For my butt," Garen said.

"Ugh," Cass let out as she watched the pair tease Talon. "You two are far more alike than I'd originally thought." Kat and Garen dissolved into laughter, and Talon finally realized that they had been joking around and he let out a groan.

"His butt," Kat snickered. "You thought I was dating him just for his butt."

"They're not wrong," Garen managed between laughs.

"Not _just_ your butt," Katarina laughed. "That hole in your tights was pretty nice, too."

"I don't even want to know," Talon said, grimacing and leaning away from the couple seated across from him.

"No, you really don't," Garen laughed.

"That reminds me," Kat said, "We're putting on a production of The Nutcracker. You two should both come."

Talon made a noncommittal sound in the back of his throat, but Cassiopeia clapped her hands together excitedly. "Of course!" she said. "We wouldn't miss it for the world!"

The rest of their meal was spent exchanging jovial stories and chatter, and when they had finished eating, Cassiopeia dragged Talon off and left Garen and Kat alone in the restaurant.

"What's with you and always trying to pay for the bill?" Kat asked. He'd tried to pay for all of them—which they hadn't allowed, but he'd insisted he contribute a significant amount more than would cover just his meal.

"I'm well-mannered, remember?" he said, and she rolled her eyes.

"Dork," she said, linking her arm through his and leaning against him slightly. "So… the evening's still young. Anything you wanna do?"

Garen grinned. "Actually, yes.

He led her to the center of the town and gestured at the small water fountain there. "They say if you throw a coin into the fountain and make a wish, it comes true."

Kat quirked an eyebrow. "They say that, huh?"

"That's what they say," Garen repeated. Although it was dark, Katarina was sure that his ears had turned a delicate shade of pink. "And… well, I thought—why not?" He reached into his pocket and produced two coins, one for each of them.

Katarina took one, letting her hand linger on his for far longer than necessary.

"Ok," she said, taking his hand and walking until they were beside the fountain. "Together?"

He nodded, offering a grin. "Together."

They closed their eyes, a wish in their minds, and as one, they extended their hands and let the coins fall. A telltale plop told that their wishes had been heard.

They returned to the Institute, and bid each other good night with a quick peck on the lips. And when they went to sleep that night, they dreamed of one another, and of a magical fountain that would grant their wishes.

* * *

A/N: The title has very little to do with the chapter. I couldn't come up with a name for it, so I decided to tease my friend. Huehuehue.

Too lazy 2 login: _Did_ he have underwear on underneath the tights? I guess we'll just never know...

Just a Fan: Thanks so much! :3

Also, since it was brought up in a review-the mention of Cassiopeia 'killing' Sivir is a reference to one of the League cinematics. It concerns the ascension of Azir and delves into a bit of background regarding Cassiopeia and Sivir, so if you haven't seen it yet, you may want to check it out if that interests you.

Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! Sorry it's a bit late. School + me being a lazy bum = late chapter updates.


	13. Chapter 13

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 13: Training

* * *

Garen groaned as he lay panting, splayed out on the floor. Katarina grunted, flicking some of her hair out of her face before she sunk wearily to the floor next to him, leaning one hand on her knee.

"Ow," Garen groaned.

Kat made a small sound of agreement in the back of her throat and took a swig of her water.

"You," she managed after swallowing and gasping for breath. "Are so annoying."

"It's my job," he said before rolling onto his stomach to bring himself closer to her. He prodded her in the side, and she squeaked.

"So I'm not the only ticklish one, huh," he said, letting out a breathy laugh.

"Shut up," she said, swatting his hand away and blushing slightly. "I'm supposed to tease _you_ , not the other way around."

"But that's no fun," Garen said, letting his bottom lip jut out in a faux-pout. "Come on, Kat, let me have some fun."

She rolled her eyes and shook her water bottle at him. "If you tickle me, I'm throwing this at you." When he prodded her again, she threw it lazily at him, and it bounced off his stomach.

Garen laughed. "All right, all right, I won't tickle you." With a groan, he rose to a sitting position and gave her back the water bottle. "Man, I feel old."

"We're not exactly young, anymore," Katarina replied.

"True," he admitted, "But we're not old yet."

"Not yet," she agreed.

"Tiring as this was," Garen said, "it was good practice. I think you've helped me improve quite a lot. So thank you."

A light blush dusted her features, and she twirled a lock of her hair in her hand. "I… yeah. Me, too." Then she stretched, and stifled a yawn. "Damn, now I'm tired."

"Training session too much for you?" Garen said, grinning. "I've got more stamina than you expected, huh?"

Katarina blinked, then smirked. She leaned forward, letting her hand trail down his chest, stopping dangerously low on his stomach. "Are you implying you can handle… _more_ of me?" she breathed.

Garen gulped, and Katarina couldn't keep a straight face anymore, cackling as she leaned back.

"Kat," he groaned, covering his face in embarrassment.

"I'm not sorry, the look on your face was worth it," she laughed.

Letting out a shaky breath, Garen couldn't keep a smile from his face. "You're going to be the death of me," he said.

"Right back at you," she said. She tried to stand, then grimaced as her muscles protested. "Especially if we keep up these training sessions."

Garen nodded, then grunted as he, too, rose to his feet. He then started to gather their discarded weapons from around the room.

When Garen had suggested they spar together, he hadn't been sure Kat would accept. And when she _did_ , he realized he wasn't sure what to expect. They'd agreed to use the weighted wooden weapons in the training room rather than their own weapons—they didn't want any accidents, after all.

But once they'd started fighting, they'd realized they couldn't stop. Both of them were intensely competitive, and neither wanted to admit defeat. They'd trained for hours before wordlessly agreeing to a draw. They'd stretched to unwind, and then Garen had groaned and he threw himself on the ground, relishing in the cool sensation across his skin.

And so they found themselves in the training room, now, sore but bizarrely pleased.

"I haven't been this exhausted since the war," Garen admitted as Katarina helped him return the weapons to their appropriate places in the storage area.

"I would agree, except that first ballet class left me this sore," Katarina laughed. "God, that hurt a lot."

"You're right," Garen agreed. " _That_ was the most painful thing I've ever experienced."

"Dwarfs this entirely," Kat said, and Garen nodded emphatically in agreement.

Once the weapons had been put away, Kat turned to Garen, hands on her hips as she gazed at him.

"Want to come to my place?" Kat asked. Garen started, his eyes widening, and she hastened to continue. "I thought we could watch The Nutcracker again. Since we know our roles, we could pay extra close attention, figure out what to expect."

Garen nodded. "Sounds fun," he said, smiling. "As long as I won't be intruding."

"I _invited_ you," Kat grinned, rolling her eyes, "of course you won't be intruding." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before drawing away, her nose scrunched up. "You stink."

He laughed. "You don't smell like roses, either, sweetheart."

She blinked, and he realized what he'd said. "I, uh—if you don't like 'sweetheart', I can absolutely remove it from my vocabulary," he said hurriedly, cringing at the prospect of having upset her.

She blinked a couple more times, then shrugged. "I just wasn't expecting it." She avoided his eyes and rubbed her neck as she said, "You know I don't really do this long-term thing. So I… I don't know—I just wasn't expecting it."

Garen scratched his ear. "If… if you don't like it, let me know."

She pondered that for a while, a blush on her face. "I… I like it," she admitted. Then she shoved him playfully. "God, why do you have to make things awkward."

"I… I'm an awkward guy?" She laughed at that.

"No you're not," she said, "You're cute."

It was Garen's turn to blink, slightly puzzled. "Cute?"

Kat blew some stray hair out of her eyes. "I… didn't mean to say that out loud," she muttered.

"You think I'm _cute_ ," Garen said, a lopsided grin on his face. "You just admitted it."

"I did no such thing," she stated before turning and stomping from the room. But she left at a slow pace, and waited for him in the hallway before sniffing imperiously and stomping off in the direction of her room with him at her heels.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it's a short chapter! It's more fluff -w- because I felt like writing fluff. Next chapter though, I promise, will have more going on.

Guest: Thanks :D

Kennen: Well I'm sorry you're having trouble keeping the fics straight. Maybe you can try to write down a little timeline for each story so that when you pick it up, you can refer back to what's happened? As far as the pacing, I did warn very early on that this story would be fluffy; and just because you're impatient for action doesn't mean I can neglect the character/relationship development! The next chapter and the subsequent chapters have more plot to them, so you should be happy with those.

Guest: Thank you! I try to update weekly, so hopefully the wait between chapters isn't too long!


	14. Chapter 14

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 14: Surprises

* * *

"Let me introduce our stage manager," Twisted Fate said a few minutes after teleporting into the room to begin their lesson. "Taric."

Taric, clad in his usual regalia, bowed dramatically. "At your service," he sang cheerfully as he rose from the bow and gave the class a once-over. "I'm so thrilled to be here. It's been a dream of mine to work on The Nutcracker, and Tobias here has been a real pal while we've been putting things together behind the scenes. But enough about that—oh, look at you! You're all so eager for us to begin!"

Kat rolled her eyes. "How long do you think before he starts going on about gems?" she whispered to Garen, who snorted in response.

"So, as you know, the stage manager has a variety of duties—one of which, in this case, since we're severely understaffed—is to make sure you all have costumes!" And with that, Taric snapped his fingers, and a pair of summoners wheeled in a rack of outfits.

"Wonderful!" Taric sang, and then he proceeded to assign them all their costumes. Somehow, he'd gotten their measurements beforehand (nobody wanted to know how), and so each costume was tailored already. And so it was that Garen found himself holding a pink dress.

"It's a dress," he muttered to himself.

"It's a night gown," Kat snickered.

"It's a dress," he repeated.

"Observant," she replied.

"A dress," he said, his voice slightly higher in distress.

"We've established this," Kat said, smirking at him. "At least I get a cool outfit."

Garen glanced at her and had to admit, she would certainly look stunning in that blue soldier outfit. With white pants and a small cape, it would certainly accentuate her hair. At least, that's what he thought, though if he were honest with himself, he would probably find her beautiful in any clothes she wore.

"No dress for you," he said.

"Nope. Cuz I'm a badass," she said haughtily.

Garen opened his mouth to inquire whether she was implying that he _wasn't_ a badass (which he absolutely was), but he was interrupted.

"Ah! Garen, why the long face?" Taric asked as he walked towards them. He'd noticed Garen staring forlornly at his outfit and he'd made his way over. Garen hesitated.

"I… ah, well… I'm just… well, it's… a dress."

"It's a night gown," Taric said, not noticing the way Katarina had to bite her lip in order to keep from laughing.

"Well, sir, it's just… I… well… I've never worn a dress," Garen said, grimacing. _And I don't want to_ , he thought.

"Oh! Well, first time for everything, right?" Taric laughed. "And it's not a dress. You see, Clara is sleeping, and so she's wearing her night gown. It simply wouldn't make sense for her to sleep in a dress, do you see?"

"That's not quite what I meant," Garen muttered, but Taric continued, not having heard him.

"And by the way, Garen, I'm so glad you landed the role. You know, Tobias had been considering Orianna for Clara's role, but I told him that Clara simply had to be you."

"M-me?" Garen asked, surprised. "You recommended me for this role?"

"Why, of course!" Taric said. "I insisted that Clara's role simply _had_ to be filled by someone with a pure heart—it matches her character, you see? A Clara without a pure heart is lacking the very essence of Clara that makes her able to bring the Nutcracker to life. And among this class, I believe that you have the purest heart."

"I… ah, I'm honored?" Garen said as Kat snickered.

"Yes. Well, I just thought you should know—hopefully it'll boost your confidence! Don't be shy about the night gown—it'll look great on you, I promise," Taric said, giving Garen a wink before moving on to help Cho'gath figure out how to wear his own dress.

The rest of the lesson was spent learning more moves, and practicing them while in costume. It was certainly more difficult to move while wearing the dress—er, night gown—but he was _determined_ to learn. And so by the end of the lesson, he had grown accustomed to the feel of it and the way it moved, and it no longer hindered his movements.

All in all, it had been a good lesson.

"Now, don't forget, next week we have dress rehearsal every night. It's gonna be rough, and I want you to all be prepared. Remember to eat healthy, stay hydrated, get lots of sleep, and practice! Don't strain yourself. We have one last lesson this week, and it will be our first time working with everyone together—we're gonna do a run through just to see where we are before the dress rehearsals get started. Don't be late, and don't get sick. You two have the most important roles, so ya gotta stay well. Y'hear me?"

Garen and Kat nodded in understanding, and after a bit more lecturing from Twisted Fate, he was satisfied they would indeed stay well, and he teleported away, satisfied.

The pair gathered their things, and when they were done, Garen went to Kat's side.

"Kat," he said, "you should come visit me later tonight. I have something I want to show you."

Kat blinked, then laughed. "That sounds like a bad pick up line." Garen blushed. "What time?"

"Any time you'd like," he said.

"How about now?" she asked.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

"Were you?" she laughed, and he nodded. They both went to change out of their ballet clothes and take a quick shower in the changing rooms before meeting up and walking the short distance to Garen's quarters. They didn't run into any Demacians on the way to Garen's room, for which they were grateful. While they weren't ashamed of their relationship, they didn't yet want to deal with the pressure or the problems that would arise if it were made public. Theirs would not be a simple relationship to the press, and it would not be easy explaining it to the higher-ups.

Once they had stepped inside, Garen led her to the living room, and he gestured for her to sit on the sofa. Once she'd taken a seat—and she made herself comfortable quickly, draping herself over the back of the armrest and giving him her usual smirk—he asked her to close her eyes.

After quirking an eyebrow in amusement, she obliged his request, and he trotted to his room. Kat heard him sifting through what sounded like boxes, and then she heard his tromping footsteps return, and he stopped in front of her.

"You can open your eyes now," Garen said, and she did.

In his hands, he held a carving of some sort. It looked ragged at the edges, and Kat thought she could see the vague impression of what was supposed to be hair, maybe a hat. The only really identifiable part on the wood were its cheerful eyes and what looked like a mouth that would open. It had various colors on it, blue in certain areas, red in others, even a little green for the eyes. With a jolt, she realized it might be her—and looking closer, it did look like it had a scar over its left eye.

"I made it for you," Garen said softly, handing the vaguely human-shaped wood to her. She took it, surprised at how light it was. "That's why I was late. I was too distracted working on it. Do you like it?"

"I… It's…" She appreciated the gesture. He must have spent hours on it—it looked as though he'd really done his best to try to make it look… nice. "I love it." And she wasn't lying. "I… it's just… what is it?"

"It's a nutcracker!" Garen said, grinning, and taking hold of a lever in the back that made the mouth open and close, demonstrating it a few times.

"Oh!" Kat exclaimed, her eyes widening as she started to recognize some of the features Garen had tried to inscribe upon the wood's surface. There was… a sword, maybe? And definitely boots, it was wearing boots. It had a coat on, she could see—he'd painted it blue.

Garen beamed and held out his hand, offering her a walnut. "Go ahead."

With a grin of her own, Kat lodged the walnut inside the nutcracker and pulled the lever.

 _CRACK._

Kat's grin faded and she gaped. The nutcracker… it had a lot more force in it than she'd expected. The walnut was completely destroyed, crushed into little bits. Had she put that much force into it? She didn't think she had.

"Isn't it great?" Garen exclaimed, taking the nutcracker and shaking the pieces of walnut into his hands. He began sorting through them, separating the shell from the nut. "Took me a while to figure out the right balance for it to crack the whole thing."

"Uh…" Kat began, laughing. "You know nutcrackers aren't supposed to crack the entire thing? Just the shell?"

Garen froze, his eyes widening and his ears turning pink. "Oh," he said. "That… _does_ make more sense."

Kat burst into laughter and then helped him sort through the pieces of walnut in his hand. They ate them together after getting rid of the shell, and Kat's eyes didn't leave him the entire time.

Once they'd finished eating the walnut, Kat took the nutcracker and turned it over in her hands. Sure, it was rough around the edges, but… but it was beautiful.

She glanced up and met Garen's eyes, and they were burning with the same feeling she felt. She wasn't sure when her crush had progressed this far, when she had fallen this hard. God, she was in way too deep, now, but she couldn't help it.

She delicately placed the nutcracker on the table beside the sofa, and then she leaned forward, meeting Garen in a kiss. It was gentle, sweet, and with it, she knew that he felt the same way. When they broke apart, he held her hands and gazed into her eyes.

And then they kissed again, this one filled with a more desperate need, a desire they couldn't quench—a need to be closer, to truly know one another. Kat's hand trailed under his shirt, and he let her hands travel up his abdomen, to his chest. His own hands were wandering, and he wasn't sure if he should stop—and as they continued, he came to the startling realization that he didn't _want_ to stop. Kat sure didn't seem like she wanted to stop, either, if her movements were any indication.

So engrossed were they in their activities, that they didn't hear the sound of the lock turning and the door opening, nor the soft footsteps that padded into the apartment. But they _did_ hear the high-pitched gasp, and they leapt apart immediately, both blushing furiously, their hearts pounding, staring uncertainly at the intruder.

And from the hallway, Lux glanced between them, her mouth hanging open in surprise.

* * *

A/N: Huehuehue. -w- Hope y'all like the chapter! :3

Guest: Thanks! And yes, I agree. I'm glad you like the story, and hope you liked this chapter, too ;)


	15. Chapter 15

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 15: sna

* * *

"Oh, no," Garen groaned.

"Fuck," Kat muttered eloquently.

Lux glanced between them once again, her face scrunched up in thought.

"So… So I did just see that, right? I wasn't just imagining it?"

"You imagined it," Kat assured her, "You definitely imagined it."

"Riiiight," Lux said, her eyes narrowing as she continued to glance between them. "Right… Right."

Kat tucked some strands of her hair behind her ear, grimacing. "I should go," she murmured softly, giving Garen an apologetic look and making to leave.

"Wait!" Lux said, and Kat froze. Then Lux shook her head. "No… look, my bad, I should have knocked." She tilted her head to the side questioningly, then laughed and shook it. "Wow. Like, wow. Omigosh."

Garen shifted uncomfortably before walking towards his younger sister. "Lux… I can explain," he said with a resigned tone.

"You really don't have to," Lux said quickly, her smile still on her lips. "I know what a make-out session looks like."

Garen coughed, and Kat crossed her arms, blushing furiously.

"I… Lux, I—" Garen began, but Lux cut him off.

"Garen, look," Lux said. "Frankly, I'm glad I walked in when I did—if I were any later… _ew_." Kat began twirling some of her hair between her fingers nervously, and Garen tugged at his ear. "So, my bad," Lux repeated. "I'm just… We'll talk later, ok?" And with that, she turned on her heel and left, closing the door quietly behind her.

Kat whirled on him. "Did you forget to lock the door?" she seethed, and he leaned away, wary of her tone.

"No," he replied. "She has a key."

"She has a key to your _room_?"

"Yes. She's my _sister_."

Kat let out a frustrated sigh, her anger deflating. She had been angry because she'd been embarrassed and surprised—feelings she wasn't used to feeling together. And yet she knew the anger was unfounded—she herself had a key to her own sister's room, and Cass had a key to hers; it was the same for Talon. Though the pair of assassins didn't really need keys to enter rooms, it was certainly more convenient that way. It made sense for Lux to have a key to Garen's apartment as well, and it was hypocritical of her to suggest that Garen shouldn't have let his sister have a key.

She ran her hand through her hair, avoiding his eyes. "Damn," she managed. They'd really been getting into it, too—but now the moment was ruined. And she was just tired, now, despite her still rapidly-beating heart. "I'm sorry."

Garen sighed as well. "I'm sorry, too. I should have…" He trailed off, frustrated with himself.

"Should have what? _Not_ given your sister a key?" Katarina scoffed.

Garen shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Kat shook her head, then let out another sigh. "I'll… I guess I'll… see you tomorrow," she said.

"Do you… do you want to spend the night?" Garen asked, his ears reddening.

Kat quirked an eyebrow, and a small smirk grew on her lips. But Garen saw that it didn't meet her eyes. "Mmm, that's a little forward of you, don't you think?" she teased.

Garen rolled his eyes, her attempt at lightening his mood succeeding. "I'll sleep on the sofa. You can use the bed."

She made a soft humming noise before leaning forward and wrapping him in an embrace. Taken by surprise, it took Garen a few moments to wrap his arms around her in return.

"Can I sleep next to you?" she whispered.

Garen's face reddened. " _Just_ sleep?" he asked nervously, and she laughed a little.

" _Just_ sleep," she confirmed. "Unless you want to do something else," she added with a smirk.

"I think sleep sounds great," he said. "But what about dinner?"

Kat groaned. "I'm not hungry," she admitted.

"You should eat something before you sleep," he admonished, "it's not healthy to skip meals. And besides, don't you remember what Twisted Fate said? We have to be in tip-top shape for next week."

She rolled her eyes, then let out a groan. "Fine," she relented, and he led her to the kitchen, where he began sorting through his fridge.

"Forgive me," he said as he took a small container from the refrigerator and put it in the microwave, "but I'm no cook."

"Neither am I," she told him, narrowing her eyes and peering through the microwave door as he turned it on. "Is that spaghetti?"

"It's all I can make," he admitted.

"I can make… sandwiches," she said.

"That's all?" he asked, surprised.

She didn't say anything, so that confirmed his suspicions.

"Guess I can cook more than you. I can make pasta and baked potatoes and fish and eggs."

"I can cook stuff over a fire," Kat said, "I have to do it all the time."

"Basic survival skills, Kat—they don't count. That's not _cooking_."

"Bullshit," she muttered as the microwave went off, and he brought the warm noodles to the table. "Totally counts."

"Nope," he chuckled before heating up some leftover sauce and setting out the plates and drinks. They ate in an amiable silence for a while before Kat begrudgingly broke the silence to admit that perhaps cooking food over a fire was different from cooking food in the comfort of one's own home.

Once they'd eaten, Garen put the dishes away and as he did that, Kat was left to wander around his apartment. She noticed the walls were rather bare, bereft of any decorations save for some seemingly random newspaper articles that were framed, hanging in the hallway. Upon closer inspection, however, she saw why he had them hanging up.

The articles weren't about him, as she'd first expected. They were about his sister—her achievements in the academy, where she'd attended school, awards she'd received for magical theory and the reverse engineering of spells. Kat bit her lip, wondering what his sister had thought about finding them together. It certainly… wasn't the way Kat had wanted her to find out. And, while Lux hadn't voiced any disapproval of their relationship, that didn't mean she approved of it or liked it.

With a sigh, she left the hallway and found his bedroom. Here, too, his walls were bare; the spartan living space seemed fitting, somehow. His bookcase was filled with a respectable amount of texts, some of which Kat recognized from her own background in the military—books on strategy, weapons, survival. Things they'd studied as they were preparing to become soldiers. A history they shared.

His bed was made; the sheets were crisp, tucked in, neat and tidy. Beside the bed stood a nighstand, and upon it, a single photograph. She picked it up, examining the picture of a young boy with chestnut hair and an even younger blonde girl beside him. He had lifted her into the air, and her mouth was opened wide in a laugh, her eyes shut in glee. Around his neck, he wore a large blue scarf.

"She was six," came a deep voice from behind her, and Kat started; placing the photograph back where it had been, she turned to see Garen's sad eyes. "That was taken on my birthday. I'd just turned twelve."

Kat turned her gaze back to the picture, where the innocent siblings' happiness had been captured. How many years later was it that their innocence would be utterly shattered? She turned back to face Garen. The man before her had been shaped by hardship, battle, war. Had he cried when they'd taken his sister? He probably had. The man before her—so strong, so powerful—he had probably fallen asleep for nights with tears on his face.

Kat's arms wrapped around him, and she pulled him into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "I'm sorry that happened to you. To both of you."

His arms wrapped around her, and he held her as though his life depended on it. He placed his head atop hers, taking in the smell of her shampoo and letting it comfort him. "Do you think she'll be mad?" he asked, his voice quiet, tinged with a touch of fear she'd never heard from him before.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I hope she isn't."

"Me, too," he sighed. They stood there for what seemed like an eternity before Garen let out a sigh and moved away.

"It's late," he said, holding back a yawn. "We should get some sleep."

His yawn was contagious, and Kat found herself struggling to hold back a yawn of her own. "Yeah," she agreed.

He pulled back the covers, and then she clambered onto the bed. She laughed when he tried to tuck her in.

"I'm not a kid," she said.

"You're not," he agreed. Then he wandered to his closet and closed the door, and a minute later, he returned, wearing boxer shorts and a large shirt.

Kat made a displeased noise when he returned.

"What?" he asked, embarrassed.

"You're wearing a shirt," she muttered.

"Oh." He laughed. "Yes. Yes I am. Observant, Kat."

She grumbled something under her breath, then scooted over and patted the space she'd vacated. He hesitated briefly before getting under the covers and turning on his side to face her.

"Never been in bed with a woman before, huh," Kat said, her eyes drooping. She was probably trying to tease him, Garen knew, but her subsequent yawn made him chuckle, and he shook his head. "Well, now you have."

He grinned and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "Go to sleep," he murmured, and she closed her eyes and sighed.

"Mmm," she let out, and her hand found his; she threaded her fingers through his, and after a minute or so, her breathing had evened out, and she was asleep.

Garen marveled at the situation he found himself in. Just three weeks ago, he wouldn't have believed he'd be here, with Katarina DuCouteau by his side. He wouldn't have believed that she would feel comfortable enough to fall asleep next to him, let alone let him hold her hand. And he wouldn't have believed the feelings he was experiencing, the way his heart warmed at the mere sight of her, the way his eyes traced her face and the contentment he felt just by feeling her hand pressed against his own.

He stayed up for a long time, just watching her sleep. And he knew it was something he wanted to do more—he wanted to sleep next to her, hold her hand, smile when she let out a soft snore. He couldn't put it into words, but he never wanted those little moments to end.

It was well past midnight when sleep finally overtook him.

* * *

It was the knock at the door that woke them both up.

"Nnngh," Kat groaned, and she rolled over. "Go away," she muttered before snuggling next to the warmth besides her.

"Garen! Garen!" came a familiar high-pitched voice, and the warmth besides her shifted, letting out a disgruntled grumble.

"I'm coming," Garen mumbled, and Kat opened her eyes to see him sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Tired?" she asked, letting her eyes drift closed as she pulled the blankets up higher around her, feeling cold without him besides her.

He grunted, and a soft smile crossed her lips. He wasn't a morning person. Hah.

He lumbered out of the room, and then Kat fell asleep again.

When he opened the door, Lux pushed inside and plopped onto his sofa.

"Soooo," she began.

"Mmm."

"Sooooooooo," she repeated. "You. And Katarina DuCouteau?"

"Mmm."

She quirked an eyebrow.

"What about us?" he asked. She rolled her eyes.

"Are you dating each other?"

"Yes," he admitted, and he sat down next to his sister.

"Since when?" she asked.

"Mm…" he mumbled as he thought back on it. "Two weeks?"

"Two weeks," Lux repeated. "Two weeks. You're telling me you've been dating for _two weeks_ , and you didn't tell me?"

Garen shrugged. "Didn't know how you'd react."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm your sister," she said simply.

"And I'm Captain of the Dauntless Vanguard, and she's the Sinister Blade of Noxus. We were worried about how you'd react. About how… anyone would react, actually." Except Cassiopeia, since she'd let them know her opinion well before they even got together.

"So? You're still my big brother. And besides, it's kind of my job to not approve of my big brother's girlfriends."

"Is that so?" he asked, amused.

"Well, yeah," she said. "It's in the 'little sister handbook'. Rule number 4."

"So does that mean you don't approve?"

"Well, I don't _approve_ approve. I don't know her, so it's not like I have any real reason to dislike her besides her affiliation with Noxus."

"Isn't that reason enough?" he asked.

She shook her head. "If that were the case, I'd hate Riven—but we're friends. That's flawed logic. I can't hate someone just because of the country they hail from; I can't hate someone because of their exploits and accomplishments." Her eyes hardened. "But you do know that, when word of this gets out, you're going to have trouble."

"We know," he admitted. "And you don't have to lecture us about it—Kat's sister already did."

Lux raised an eyebrow. "Cassiopeia?"

"Yeah. She gave us a whole speech about it before we'd even started dating."

"Huh. I didn't know Cassiopeia was that sensitive."

"I don't know if 'sensitive' is the right word," Garen replied. "At any rate, she didn't care, she just wanted to drive the point home that we're going to have it rough once word gets out."

"When are you planning on letting people know?"

"We haven't talked about it."

"You should," Lux said. "You should have that conversation. It's important."

He sighed. "I know," he admitted.

"Garen…" Lux said. "Are you… are you happy? With her?"

He grinned. "Yes. I've never been happier."

Lux was silent for a long while before nodding. "I'm glad," she said, "I know you've liked her for a while."

Garen's eyes widened, and he felt heat rise to his cheeks. "W-what?" he sputtered. "How…?"

"You stared at her a lot. And you were obsessed with fighting her. It wasn't hard to put two and two together," she stated simply. Then she laughed. "Y'know, I thought she was out of your league, actually. I didn't think she'd ever date you—I didn't think she was interested in you at all."

"She was, just not as interested as I was in her," he admitted. "She thought I was handsome, though," he said proudly.

"Wow," Lux laughed. "Ok, so I was totally wrong on that one, I guess." Then she gazed at him curiously. "How'd you end up dating, anyway?"

"Ballet class," he said. "We're dance partners."

" _Ballet class_?" she repeated, and he nodded. "Wh… when did you start taking _ballet_ class?"

"Four weeks ago, I think," he replied. "Something like that."

"Wh… and she took it, too?"

He nodded. "She owed me a favor, so I called it in."

"How'd that… how'd you get her to owe you a favor?" Lux asked, mystified.

" _Kat_ phobia," he said seriously.

" _Katsarida_ phobia, you ass," came a voice from the hall, and the siblings turned to see Katarina leaning against the wall, yawning.

"Oh," Lux let out, her eyes widening as she glanced between them. "I… I didn't know you… spent the night."

"We didn't do anything," Kat said simply, "If that's what's worrying you."

Lux glanced between them again, and Garen sighed, standing up.

"I'll officially introduce you two. Lux, this is Katarina. Kat, this is Lux."

Kat pushed off from the wall and marched forward, extending her hand. Lux took it, and the shook hands, staring intensely into one another's eyes.

"You have a wonderful brother," Kat said as they dropped their hands.

"Yeah," Lux agreed, glancing at Garen. "He's a good brother." Then she tilted her head to the side. "Can I be upfront with you?"

Kat snorted. "Go ahead."

"Do you mean him any harm?" Garen was taken aback by his little sister's tone—it was sharp, and there was a piercing intensity behind her blue eyes that sent a chill down his spine.

"No," Kat replied immediately. "If I did, he'd be dead."

Lux narrowed her eyes. "If anything happens to him—"

"I'm not going to hurt him," Kat said, raising her arms in defense. "I'm here because I really do like Garen."

Lux stared at her, then sighed. "If anything happens, you'll have me to answer to."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Kat said.

"You know I'm right here," Garen said gruffly. "I can take care of myself."

"Rule number four, bro," Lux stated. "Rule number four." Then she stood up from the sofa. "Nice to formally meet you outside the world of politics and violence, Katarina," she said.

"Likewise."

"Garen, I came here yesterday to ask—did I leave my watch here the other day?"

"You have a watch?" Garen asked, frowning.

"Y-Yeah. I got a new one."

Garen shook his head. "I don't think so. But I'll keep an eye out for it around the house."

Lux nodded. "Thanks," she said. "It's just, it's my favorite watch, so I hope I haven't lost it."

After a few more minutes of polite conversation, Lux excused herself and left.

"Well, she doesn't dislike you," Garen said when she was gone. "That's a plus."

"What?" Kat asked, surprised. "I thought she _didn't_ like me."

"She wasn't fiddling with her baton. She fiddles with her baton when she's around people she doesn't like."

"Huh," said Kat.

Garen leaned forward and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "How about some breakfast?" he asked.

* * *

A/N: I was gonna be mean and split this in half and give you that, but it was just too short, I couldn't justify it.

Hope y'all enjoy!

the title is me messing with the same butts friend who i messed with before. ha. hahHAHAHAhahahahHA plz disregard my chapter titles, they may well end up being completely irrelevant from now on, at this rate

Guest: I have been told on good authority that you're not alone in wanting them to bang ;p

second-guest: Aaaactually she's definitely not with Darius in this fic. I mentioned previously that she wasn't seeing anyone... but I've since changed my mind. There's just a subtle hint, though, nothing outright. But it definitely won't be Darius.

Guest: OMG this review made my day lol. Especially the sound effect xD


	16. Chapter 16

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 16: Spaghetti

* * *

When Garen and Katarina arrived at class, they were both wearing their costumes, as was required at a dress rehearsal. But, for some reason, they were the only ones in the room.

"Were we supposed to meet somewhere else?" Garen asked, concerned. Kat shook her head.

"I don't think so," she mumbled, though she seemed almost as concerned as Garen.

At that moment, the door opened, and Orianna and Blitzcrank arrived, followed closely by Evelynn. And just seconds after their arrival, Twisted Fate teleported into the room.

"Where are the others?" Evelynn asked him as she walked to his side.

He straightened his hat and carefully avoided her eyes when he replied. "Teemo was givin' 'em an extra session to warm up… He said they weren't quite prepared, but that they'd be ready in time for rehearsal." He glanced at the clock on the wall, then furrowed his brow before turning to face Garen and Katarina.

"Could y'all two go check up on 'em? See if they're ready to come to class?" he asked. "They're in room 160, down the hall."

With a quick nod, the pair left the room and quickly journeyed down the hall a short distance until they came upon the room in question. Garen took it upon himself to open the door, and when they stepped inside, they were greeted with a scream.

"Don't take another step!" Teemo yelled at them, glaring at them with an intensity behind his eyes that sent shivers down their spines.

Garen swallowed and took a step backwards, brushing against Kat, who frowned and crossed her arms. "Do you think...?" she mumbled, but then they took in the sight before them.

Amumu, Annie, Cho'gath, and Kog'maw danced in perfect synchronization, carefully leaping and placing their feet gently, pointing their toes, never missing a beat. It was amazing, their coordination, and the progress they'd made studying under Teemo. Even Cho'gath managed to leap to incredible heights (though he looked ridiculous in the large dress he wore). Kog'maw, astoundingly, drooled not at all, and no slobber covered the floors—his gaze was focused and intense.

But, unfortunately, it seemed that Amumu's clumsiness would be his undoing. And so it was that—when he accidentally stepped just slightly out of place, his foot only just jutting out too far—a cloud of purple smoke erupted and engulfed him.

"He shroomed the place!" Garen breathed in horror as the haze cleared to reveal Amumu's prone body.

"Nobody move!" Teemo ordered, but Annie had already taken the initiative and summoned Tibbers—who proceeded to step on at least four different poisonous mushrooms at once, engulfing the entire room in the toxic mist.

It was a good thing that Cho'gath had come prepared—perhaps this had happened before—and he threw down a vision ward before destroying the mushrooms throughout the room with Kog'maw's help.

"Annie, how many times do I have to tell you," Teemo muttered darkly as he scolded the young girl, "your bear is not allowed on the dance floor."

"But Mumu is hurt!" Annie countered, almost daring Teemo to argue. The fire behind his eyes hinted that he might, and the shadow that crossed his face bordered on demonic. But, for whatever reason, Teemo decided not to press the issue.

"Take him to the infirmary. Don't forget to have them administer the antidote to Tibbers, too," Teemo said. Garen and Kat quickly moved out of the doorway to allow room for Annie and Tibbers to carry the unconscious mummy downstairs.

Teemo turned to them, scowling. "What do you want?" he asked roughly.

"TF sent us," Garen said, clearing his throat. "It's time for the dress rehearsal."

Teemo brightened immediately. "Why didn't you say so?" he chirped before turning to the remaining students. "It's time for the rehearsal! Follow me, swiftly!" And with that, he led them to the main dance room.

Kat turned to Garen as they watched the class depart. "What the fuck," she muttered.

He shivered. "To think, he used the shrooms as punishment for mistakes. One wrong move, and you end up in the hospital. No wonder their movements were so controlled…"

"That yordle's going to kill someone," Kat muttered darkly as they headed back to the room, and Garen nodded in agreement. Teemo had always seemed… off, despite his grinning appearance… but the incident today had proved that there was something sadistic behind that smiling façade.

When they returned, Teemo was explaining to TF what had happened, and Twisted Fate didn't seem too happy at the prospect of missing two of his students from such an important rehearsal. Nonetheless, Twisted Fate directed them to their places. "All right, everyone, let's get started." And then he proceeded to explain the staging. Once he'd done that, he began having them run through the numbers, and oftentimes interrupted it to point out errors and have them start over again; Evelynn and Teemo would do the same, and with three instructors observing their movements, the class was forced to make as few mistakes as possible. It was tiring work, and by the end of the dress rehearsal, everyone was exhausted—but their improvement as a unit was impressive, to say the least.

"Tomorrow, the rehearsal won't be in here," Twisted Fate said. "The extra yordles in the League will be here to fill in roles, as well as a few others—and we'll be on the stage. Everyone know where that is?" When everyone nodded, he continued. "Right. So we'll have things to run through like lighting, and we'll have the orchestra, too. Everyone go home and rest up, stay healthy, eat well, and I'll see y'all tomorrow." And with that, he teleported away. Evelynn left after giving Orianna some advice on her pirouettes, and Teemo simply smiled ominously at everyone as they gathered their things and left.

"Hey, Garen," Kat said as they walked down the stairs towards the changing rooms.

"Hmm?"

"I left the nutcracker at your place, so I guess that means I need to go back there again to pick it up."

He laughed. "I guess so. What would you like for dinner?"

She pondered that. "More spaghetti?"

He shrugged. "I can make… other things, if you don't want spaghetti."

"Spaghetti's fine," she replied. "I like your spaghetti."

"Is it good?"

"Yeah."

"I guess I'm a good cook."

"Better than me, we've been over this."

"We have. But, you know, most people are better cooks than you."

"You haven't even tasted my cooking!" She grinned. "Trust me, you don't want to."

They shared a good laugh at that before parting ways to change quickly and return to his apartment. But when she arrived, it became clear that Katarina did not simply want to retrieve her nutcracker.

"Can I spend the night again?" she asked, fiddling with her hair as Garen's ears turned red.

"Y-yes," he said. "Of course." Then he cleared his throat. "But…. Dinner first!" He marched off hurriedly to the kitchen, and Kat, shaking her head slightly and smiling, followed him.

They ate spaghetti, since that was all Garen could really cook, and they washed the dishes together and then retreated to Garen's room. The night was wearing on, and as Twisted Fate had reminded them, they would need their sleep for the intense dress rehearsal the following day.

But a certain thought had been troubling Garen for a while, now, and as he climbed under the covers—Kat making a comment about him wearing a shirt again—he decided to voice it.

"Lux is right. We should talk about… when we'll tell people. About us."

Kat sighed, then pulled the covers up higher, almost over her face. "What's there to talk about?" she mumbled. "We have plenty of time. No rush."

"But… we _are_ going to tell people, right? This isn't just some… secret, is it?"

She lowered the covers enough to give him a hard look. "Were you planning on keeping it secret? I wasn't."

He let out a relieved sigh. "No, I wasn't. That's why I brought it up." He scratched his chin. "But as I asked before, that brings up the question of _when_ we'll tell them."

She huffed, turning away from him. "I don't know," she admitted, her back to him, her voice muffled by the covers she'd moved over her head again. "Swain's not going to be happy."

"I doubt the King will be, either," Garen said with a sigh, folding his hands over his stomach and staring at the ceiling. "No doubt the press will have a field day with it."

"The press is the least of our worries," Kat muttered. "The whole of Noxus is going to need to be pacified by Swain. And if he doesn't want to pacify them… it'll mean trouble."

"But your sister has some sway over his decisions, doesn't she?" Garen asked, and Kat shrugged.

"She does. But that doesn't mean Swain will accept us."

Garen sighed. "If… if things do go south, you're always welcome to come to Demacia."

"Will I be, though?" she said, turning back to face him, meeting his eyes with a burning intensity. "If your King doesn't approve of me, if Noxus turns against me, will I really be welcome at your side?"

Garen thought about it, then nodded. "My best friend is the Prince. Even if he doesn't approve, he respects my decisions. If I asked, he'd find some way to allow you into the kingdom."

Kat didn't say anything, but she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, and Garen knew her fears still weren't assuaged. "Is there something else bothering you?" he asked softly.

"I…" she sighed. "I just… wish my father was here. He'd know the best way to approach it."

"I'm sorry," Garen whispered, and he found her hand. "I wish I could help you find him."

"He doesn't want to be found," Kat breathed. Then she let out a breathy, short laugh, one that made Garen's heart constrict with the frustration barely contained within the sound. "Or maybe someone doesn't want him to be found. I don't know."

"Do you think… do you think foul play was involved?" Garen asked. He wouldn't put it beyond some of the other Noxians in the High Command.

"There's no evidence of it. But that doesn't mean anything. I just… I don't know." She was frowning, but then she met his eyes and her eyes scrunched up as she let a small smile find her lips. "But, hey, at least I have you."

"I'll always be here for you," Garen said, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Thank you," Kat breathed, and she moved her lips to meet his, and they shared a soft kiss. Katarina tried to deepen it, and Garen followed her movements, and for several blissful moments, there was nothing but each other.

When he pulled away and broke the kiss, though, Garen had a serious expression on his face.

"But we _should_ discuss when we will disclose our relationship," he said.

Kat let out a frustrated groan. "Do we have to _now_?"

"No," Garen admitted. "But I think the sooner we establish this, the better."

"Fine," Kat muttered. "Fine. Let's just… decide on a date, then."

"I think you're the one with the most at stake," Garen said, "so you ought to be the one who chooses a date most convenient for you."

Kat snorted. "Like you don't have much at stake? We're both risking our careers," she stated. But she thought about it nonetheless, and after a few minutes of pondering, she shrugged. "We could let them know after the performance."

Garen nodded. "We could. The press would be there, anyway, to cover the event. It's a convenient time." Then he wove his fingers through hers, applying a slight pressure. "Kat, I don't want to force you into anything. If you have any misgivings, we—"

"It's fine, Garen," Kat reassured him, rolling her eyes. "Look, I appreciate you looking out for me—but if I didn't want something, believe me, you'd know."

Garen scratched his ear. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I just… you seemed hesitant."

She shrugged, twirling some hair between her fingers and avoiding his gaze. "I just… it's not exactly an easy decision. My entire life up until this point has revolved around my career; I'm not just risking my job, I'm risking my way of life—it's… a little scary," she admitted. Then she gave him a cheeky grin. "But hell, all or nothing, right? You go in and win big, or you lose out. Won't know until we try—and the reward is worth the risk." She finished with a wink that made his ears turn red.

"Thank you," he said softly. He leaned forward, and she met him in a chaste kiss. "So, after the performance?"

She nodded. "After the performance."

She leaned forward again and placed a soft kiss against his forehead before leaning back against her pillow. "Good night, Garen," she breathed, letting her eyes drift close as she smiled at him.

"Good night, Kat," he breathed softly.

And as her breathing evened out, Garen found himself once more feeling that he never wanted to leave her side. That he could live in this moment forever, that he wanted to be by her side and watch her smile, and listen to her soft breathing, watch the rise and fall of her chest, to feel her warmth—he wanted to do this forever. And it was then that he was hit with a realization, though perhaps, he thought ruefully, he probably ought to have known.

"I love you," he whispered softly into the night, and when he said the words, they felt so right.

He thought he saw her stiffen, but in the dark, he couldn't be sure. Her breathing still seemed even, and surely, if she had heard, she would have said something. Even so, he couldn't shake the feeling that she'd heard his words—and if that were the case, why was she pretending to be asleep? No, there was no reason for her to pretend—none at all. And so, troubled by the thought as he was, Garen closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep.

Several minutes later, once Garen had begun to snore, the weight beside him shifted, and then lifted off of the bed altogether, and he was alone.

* * *

A/N: As usual, the title has very little relevance. This time, however, I can blame my twin sister for insisting (and by insisting I mean breathing down my neck) that I call it 'spaghetti'. So. There we have it.

Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! This was actually a little hard to write, took me a while to figure out how I wanted the ending to go.

Also, I'm no longer ahead-I've caught up to where I was, so writing chapters may take a little longer. I'll still try my best to keep the consistent update schedule (even though I'm a little late, sorry about that), but since we actually have to wait for me to write entire chapters now instead of just editing them, there may be some inconsistencies mixed in there.

Anyway, sorry this chapter's a little late. Life, y'know? But since I took my test and my performances are over with for the time being, I have time to update finally! Wish me luck, I have like five essays and three tests coming up and performances, too. Busy, busy! But yeah, anyways, hope y'all are enjoying the story so far!


	17. Chapter 17

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 17: Philophobia

* * *

Garen was rather disgruntled when he arrived to rehearsal. He'd woken to an empty, cold bed, and he wandered the apartment trying to see if perhaps Kat had just gone exploring—but she was nowhere to be found. So he assumed she must have been off on some business or other. The nutcracker was still where she'd left it on his table, he noted.

He'd sent her a text. _Hey. Sorry I was asleep when you left. You forgot the nutcracker. I'll bring it to rehearsal._

He had thought she would reply. But she hadn't. Surely she must be involved in something very important, Garen thought. Besides, it wasn't like he needed her to reply—she'd be at rehearsal, after all, and he would see her there and give her the nutcracker. Yet he couldn't help but remember the previous night, his words and her tension at them. Maybe she hadn't been asleep after all.

And so, all day, these thoughts had been racing around his head, and the more he thought on it, the more upset he became. So when it was time for rehearsal, he was a tad uneasy at the prospect of talking to his girlfriend.

Still, he arrived in his dress—er, nightgown—and warmed up as the rest of the students gathered on the stage. Twisted Fate was speaking with Sona, who was holding a conductor's baton—perhaps she was the conductor for the orchestra? Garen tried to glance into the pit to see who was going to be playing, but his view was suddenly obstructed by… lots and lots of pink. Gems.

"Why, Garen! You look dashing in the costume. But you seem to have forgotten your make-up!" Taric exclaimed upon seeing Garen.

Garen made a face. "My… make up?" he repeated back.

"Yes! Stage make up!" Upon seeing Garen's baffled expression, Taric frowned. "Oh, dear. It seems I'll have to make an announcement later today regarding stage make up…" he muttered to himself before turning and walking backstage, leaving a confused Garen in his wake.

Shaking his head, Garen turned and decided to drop his water bottle and Kat's nutcracker on the side of the stage. When he walked to the side, he stiffened. Katarina was depositing her own water bottle and a small backpack by the wall. She was stunning in her regal blue nutcracker attire, and yet, when their eyes met, he saw a shadow cross her face. She bit her lip before turning away and rummaging through her backpack.

Hesitantly, he took a few steps towards her until he was a couple of paces away; far enough away to give her some room, but close enough to hold a conversation. He cleared his throat. "Hi, Kat," he said.

She sighed before standing and turning to face him, crossing her arms and not meeting his eyes. She didn't say anything, waiting for him to continue.

He frowned. "Did I upset you?" he asked bluntly.

She let out an exasperated sound as she glanced around them to ensure nobody was within earshot—they weren't—and then she said, "Can I just… have some space?"

Garen's frown deepened. "Yes… of course," he replied, "but I just wanted to… If I upset you in any way, I'd like to apologize—"

"Well, it's too late for that," Kat snapped, a scowl on her face.

She was upset—that much was so obvious it was almost painful."What did I do?" he asked again. If she didn't _tell_ him what he'd done wrong, how was he supposed to make up for it or even apologize for it?

"Garen, not—now is _not_ —not here," she muttered darkly before sweeping past him towards the stage. He watched her leave him, and he felt as though a suffocating force was tightening around his heart with every step she took away from him. With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Garen trod after her.

The rehearsal for that day… did not go well. Although Amumu managed to avoid passing out—an achievement in and of itself, as it saved the dance floor from the wrath of Tibbers—the main disaster actually occurred in the first scene between Garen and Katarina.

They were already avoiding one another's eyes as they headed to their places (though Garen thought he caught her glancing away when he tried to discreetly look at her, but he wasn't sure). For the first few minutes, they managed all right.

As Garen attempted to lift her, Katarina shifted slightly away—and he lost his grip on her and dropped her. She landed safely on the ground, easily keeping her footing (she _was_ The Blade of Noxus, after all, well versed in acrobatics and unexpected falls). But Twisted Fate immediately called for a halt, and stalked towards them, eyes narrowed.

"You two need to focus," he said. "Du Couteau, ya can't scowl the entire time. And Crownguard, ya can't _drop_ her, ya gotta pay more attention. Both of y 'all's footwork has been off, and you're both behind the rhythm." He clapped his hands together. "Fix it." Then he called for everyone to return to their places and start the number over again.

Twisted Fate had hoped they would fix their mistakes immediately, but on and on it went—either Garen would make a blunder, or Katarina would make one, and with each error, Twisted Fate grew more and more upset. Finally, he called for another halt and strode towards them, seething.

"You two. Go upstairs to the practice room and for god's sake, don't leave that room until you can run through your numbers without a mistake. Do you understand?" he told them, gesturing roughly towards the door backstage.

Garen swallowed, then nodded, his shoulders deflating. Katarina's glower reached a new level of intensity, and she turned with a 'hmph' and stalked offstage, roughly grabbing her backpack and swinging it over her shoulder before she kicked the door open and left.

Twisted Fate followed Garen backstage as he, unlike Katarina, took slower and less angry steps to leave.

"Crownguard," he said, "look, I don't mean to pry. But we know there's something going on between you two. I'm not really sending you upstairs to practice. I'm sending you two up there so you can _fix_ whatever's goin' on."

Garen let out a sigh. "I don't know if we can fix it," he admitted. Especially when he didn't know _what was wrong._

"Come to an agreement, then. Put aside your feelin's when you're on stage." Twisted Fate placed an understanding but firm hand on Garen's shoulder. "Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. If ya can't fix it, then ya gotta roll with it."

It wasn't particularly wise or insightful, but Garen knew that Twisted Fate's advice was nonetheless practical. And so he nodded, and he left through the door Katarina had kicked open, wondering briefly if she'd hurt her toe in the ballet slipper—she'd kicked the door rather hard.

When he reached the door to the practice room, he steeled himself and took a deep breath. Was there really any way for him to prepare himself for the unknown? He had no idea what to expect, no idea what he'd done wrong to upset Katarina in the first place. But he needed to try—he needed to try to fix it, whatever it was.

And so he opened the door and entered, trying to feel as confident as he appeared.

Katarina glanced at him with that same scowl she'd been wearing throughout rehearsal before returning to what she'd been doing before he entered. She was running through a number on her own, and he noticed that he'd been right—she was favoring her left foot; she'd kicked the door too hard, forgetting that she was wearing a dainty ballet slipper rather than a sturdy boot.

It took Garen a few moments to find his voice as he quietly placed his water bottle down and put the nutcracker beside it. Her movements were rough and tense, and he could see her frustration poured into her leaps and turns. It was beautiful, in a wild sense; it was easy to understand that she was one of the most feared assassins in the land, when she was dancing like this, with such a dark but palpable aura surrounding every move she made. Garen was acutely aware of this.

But he spoke, once he remembered how. "Kat," he said, "we need to talk."

She didn't look at him, just continued running through her routine. She said nothing.

"Kat," he repeated, more urgently this time. "Kat, you can't ignore me. We need to talk about this."

"Fine," she spat, turning to face him. "Fine. We'll _talk_." She said the word as though it were something disgusting.

"I want to apologize," he said, "I don't know what I did, but I never meant to hurt your feelings."

She crossed her arms. "Apologies don't change anything, Crownguard," she muttered.

Garen frowned. They were back to the last-name basis, again? That probably wasn't a good sign. "Kat, what did I do wrong?"

Her face was slightly red, but her glower darkened. "You can't… you just can't say stupid shit like that, Crownguard." Her tone grew exasperated. "We've been dating for _three weeks_. You can't—you just—you can't."

"I… what?" Garen asked. Then he realized what she'd meant. She _had_ overheard him last night—he'd been right. "I'm… I can't apologize for loving you," he said, confused. "I _do_ love you, Kat."

"That's the _fucking_ problem, Crownguard!" she exclaimed. "You _can't_ fucking love me!"

"But I… I do," he said. Then a realization hit him, and his stomach dropped, his face paled. "Do you… do you not love _me_?"

Her mouth fell open, and she seemed offended—but her silence was all the response he needed. Feeling almost dizzy, numb, Garen stumbled backwards, towards the door, away—he had to leave, he couldn't look at her, he _couldn't_ , or else he didn't know what he would do.

"Garen—wait, Garen!" Kat cried behind him, but he hardly heard her as he pushed the door open and ran—ran away, away from the woman he loved, the woman he wanted to spend his life with, to lie beside; he just wanted to tuck stray strands of hair behind her ear, to trace her eyes and nose and lips with his fingertips. Away from her—away from the woman who didn't love him back, away from the woman who…

When he reached his apartment, he slammed the door closed behind him and walked, dazed, to his bed, nearly collapsing into it. It was the wrong thing to do. When he took what he hoped to be a steadying breath, he smelled her, her shampoo, her scent from the previous two days.

And then Garen Crownguard felt something burning in his eyes. He hadn't felt that burning since he had been a boy, when they'd taken his little sister away from him. He stood roughly, then yanked the blankets off the bed, followed by the sheets and the pillowcases; he balled them up and threw them into the corner of his room, where he glared at them before closing his eyes and letting out a sigh as he began to try to process what had just happened.

* * *

When Garen left, Katarina felt like punching something. "Fuck," she muttered under her breath when she realized there was nothing in the room she could punch (well, she _could_ punch the mirror, but coming away with a bloody hand was less than ideal). She settled for kicking her water bottle across the room, where it collided against the wall and the lid came off, spilling water all over the floorboards. "Fuck," she muttered again.

She'd screwed up, all right. But what the hell did he _expect_? He couldn't just pop a question like that on her and expect her to be all chippery and happy about it and say, "Oh, yes, Garen, I love you!" as though she were some love-struck teenager. For god's sake, they'd only been dating for three weeks—how the hell was she supposed to _love_ him, already?

She ignored the part of her that argued that they'd known each other for far longer, that she'd yearned for him for far longer than just the time they'd started to take this class together. That part of her was in conflict with the more rational part of her, the part that knew she couldn't love him, that he couldn't love her—that she was in way over her head and that she was being stupid and overreacting. That she needed to just _talk to him_. But she _couldn't_ talk to him.

She couldn't. She just couldn't—because then she would have to face the fact that she might very well feel the same way. And she was scared. She would never admit it—not even to herself. But she was scared of the idea of loving Garen Crownguard; she was scared of _loving_ Garen Crownguard.

"Fuck," she muttered, pushing those thoughts out of her mind and retrieving her water bottle. She glowered at the spill, then stalked through the hallway to retrieve some paper towels from the restroom. When she had cleaned up the mess, she still felt like punching something, but the best she could manage was to throw the wad of wet paper towels into the trash can with a lot of force behind the throw, and that was not cathartic enough to relieve her of her fury. She needed to punch something, she decided. She'd go change, then head to the training rooms, she thought. So she grabbed her backpack and made to leave; but on her way out, she noticed that Garen had left behind his water bottle. And the nutcracker.

 _Her_ nutcracker. She bit her lip, and her heart felt like it was being squeezed, and she couldn't breathe. Swallowing, she took the nutcracker into her hands— _her_ nutcracker—and she traced her finger along the edges he'd carved, the rough parts he'd sanded into smoothness, the strokes he'd painstakingly painted.

 _Fuck_ , she thought as she felt tears rushing to her eyes. _Fuck_.

She didn't want to punch anything, anymore.

* * *

A/N: My twin wanted me to call this chapter 'He's still wearing the nightgown' or 'chippery'. I politely declined the suggestions. Thank you to meltedjujubees for the (good) suggestion for the title (among other suggestions like 'fuck', which, admittedly, would be relevant)! And also thanks for putting up with incessant teasing, me being sassy, tswift, tilts, and also for being super supportive! 3

Thanks for the reviews/faves/follows. All are appreciated, and I'm glad so many of you are enjoying this story!

Third-guest: Haha, well there may not be any time for them to do the do, seeing as how they're not really in a good place relationship-wise right now :( And no problem! You actually can thank meltedjujubees for helping me keep on track with my writing. Like I said, with school and no more chapters already written ahead of time, it's a little harder to keep updating fairly regularly (for now, I'm hoping to go with one chapter a month). But I will never abandon this fic! It's almost done, just a handful more chapters left. But what's left is so fun, I think y'all will really enjoy it.

Lyelantu: Oh yes, Jarvan will indeed be having a talk with Garen soon, don't worry! I agree, Garen definitely needs to talk to somebody, but he's just so used to keeping his emotions to himself, poor boy :( Thanks! (I like klondikes, nice!) And you should check out meltedjujubees's stories-they're great, and definitely something you should add to your library!

Shinobukun: Thank you so much! I will say, this review helped give me the drive to finish up the chapter, so thank you very much! Haha, we'll see how kat deals with her emotions, and how their relationship progresses (or regresses?) from here!


	18. Chapter 18

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 18: Bro

* * *

The next rehearsal, Garen and Katarina completely avoided speaking to one another or meeting each other's eyes. And Twisted Fate noticed. And so, after the first number, he pulled them aside.

" _Look_ at each other. This is a performance. Put it aside, whatever it is, and focus."

And so they did. They were renowned throughout the lands for a reason, after all; the Might of Demacia for his determination (his determination to pretend that she was merely an acquaintance and that they were merely working as colleagues on this production, and that he could at least perform his numbers regardless of the way his heart burned); the Blade of Noxus for her efficiency (her efficiency at numbing her emotions, at completely ignoring the way her chest constricted at the sight of him).

They had missteps. They had rhythmic errors, timing errors. But they looked at each other—only for as long as necessary. And for one brief moment, as they danced besides one another, they both pretended that nothing was wrong, that there was no tension between them, that they were happy. But then that moment passed, and Garen swallowed hard as he looked away and moved into another dance number.

Twisted Fate was less than pleased with their performance. "Everyone else is doing well. You two are the only ones who keep messing up. Fix it." And then he called it a wrap for the night, and he went to speak with the conductor in the pit.

When the curtains were drawn, Taric pulled Garen aside. "Now, Garen, about your makeup."

Garen was not in a good mood, but he summoned an acceptable expression on his face, one that might pass as polite. "I forgot," he stated simply, hoping that would be the end of it. He moved to leave, but Taric stepped in his way, blocking him, and gestured to someone backstage.

"Now, now, not to worry, dear," Taric said, "I've made arrangements for you and the others. We have a makeup artist, now!"

Garen glanced over his shoulder only to see, of all people, Karma.

"Karma?"

She nodded and offered a restrained smile.

Taric let out a delighted chuckle. "Karma's agreed to fix everyone's stage makeup! Not an easy task, but one she's capable of, I'm certain."

Karma nodded, and Taric excused himself before waltzing offstage to speak with Twisted Fate and Sona.

"How did he rope you into this job?" Garen asked, a lopsided grin on his face as Karma rolled her eyes.

"We had an… agreement," she said vaguely. "I've done this sort of thing before, back in Ionia. I help out with the makeup for the performers in the festivals."

"I wouldn't have expected you to be…" Garen trailed off, scratching his ear.

"Knowledgeable in the arts of makeup? Every woman is," Karma stated with a raised eyebrow. Then she offered him a warm grin. "I suppose we were both surprised. I hadn't expected _you_ to be…" Her eyes glanced up and down his form, amusement glinting in her eyes.

"Wearing a dress?" Garen mumbled, feeling his cheeks heat up.

She laughed. "It's a nightgown, isn't it?"

"So I've been told," Garen replied as he picked at the pink material. Then he shook his head. "Well, at any rate, thank you. I have… very little experience in the matter of makeup."

She patted his shoulder. "Leave it to me," she said. "If you arrive ten minutes early to rehearsal from now on, I can have your makeup done in no time."

"Just… not too much," Garen said, laughing at the thought.

Karma quirked a brow. "Garen, I'm afraid that this is stage makeup." At his blank stare, she elaborated. "There has to be a lot of makeup. For the crowd to see it under the lights and from a distance."

"Oh," Garen let out, scratching the back of his head. "Oh," he repeated in a quieter tone. "Lots of makeup?"

"Lots of makeup."

"Oh."

Garen was silent for a few moments before rousing himself from his stupor. "Sorry," he said. Then he glanced at the clock backstage, and with a gasp, he quickly began to back towards the door. "I'm sorry, Karma, but I just saw the time, and I—"

"You have a match, don't you?"

"In fifteen minutes," he replied.

"Good luck, then," she nodded, and he gave a nod in return before racing to the changing rooms.

He was still panting when the game ended. Coated with sweat, and feeling as though he was being suffocated by heat. That was how he felt—as though he were to die by asphyxiation, as though he were to suffocate by the armor that clamped around him, by the sweat that ran down his back.

The match… had been bad. _Very_ bad. Garen usually didn't perform badly, and that was something he prided himself on.

But this match? Oh, Garen knew he had done a horrible job. It was one thing to struggle against an opponent such as Teemo or Darius. But to lose to an assassin like Akali? And not only to lose, but to die by her hand no fewer than seventeen times? And that was _just_ Akali—in total, he'd died twenty three times. He of course respected Akali's strength—but he was not supposed to be that easy to kill.

The game had only lasted twenty minutes. It was _awful_.

And it was _his_ fault.

Garen stomped off of the summoning platform and avoided looking at his sister. Everyone else on his team had performed admirably—his sister had done well, had been winning her lane. But _he_ had caused them to lose.

The heat grew even more suffocating, and he couldn't breathe.

He hurried to his quarters quickly, throwing the door closed behind him with excess force. He slammed his fist against the wall, threw his sword to the floor, and began stripping himself of his armor. Usually, he had a routine—he had designated areas for his armor, a place to hang his sword—but he was too upset now, as he kicked his boots off and threw them across the room. He stormed to his bedroom, and pulled his shirt over his head.

The cool air hit his chest and he let out a sigh as he ran his hand over his face. He threw himself onto his bed, eyes closed and hand still covering his eyes.

He knew why he had lost. Why he had performed so poorly.

He hadn't been able to stop thinking about _her_. Those emerald eyes, the way they glinted when she smiled, the way her lips curved when she was about to tease him, the way her hands fidgeted with her knives when she was nervous.

And he'd thought of her words. Of his words. And he couldn't stop thinking of them, and that was why he had lost, because he couldn't concentrate and it was entirely his own fault.

He let out a groan and grabbed the pillow beside him, stuffing it over his face as he let out a cry of frustration.

But once he had finished, he froze.

This was the pillow she had slept on.

With a swallow, he placed the pillow beside him again and stared at it for a long time. Then, spotting the discarded sheets, he felt something inside of him break, and he scrambled from the bed, gripping the linens tightly as he inhaled her lingering scent.

And suddenly he was suffocating again, and he brought the sheets to his face so he could smell her, and he felt his eyes grow hot as he curled up on the bed and forced himself to hold back the heat behind his eyes.

Garen slept very little that night.

Kat wanted to kill something. She really did. Because she hadn't killed a damn thing these past two days in any of her matches, and it was really starting to piss her off.

She'd caught a glimpse of Garen's game last night. And if he thought he'd done poorly, he should have seen the match she had this morning. Gritting her teeth, Kat threw another dagger at the training dummy. It flew wide, as had most of her shots. With a muffled scream of frustration, Katarina stomped forwards to retrieve her dagger.

The sound of a familiar throat clearing made her whirl, her heart thudding.

Talon leaned against the wall by the door, arms crossed. Observing.

"I didn't hear you come in," Kat muttered darkly as she returned to her task of picking up her fallen knife. As her fingers closed around the hilt, her brother finally uncrossed his arms and pushed himself off of the wall.

"I noticed."

"What do you want?" she asked, taking her stance and aiming for the training dummy again, acutely conscious of his eyes on her form.

"You're going to miss."

"Shut up," she growled as she threw the dagger; it flew wide, just as he'd predicted. With ease, Talon plucked it from the air. She stalked towards him, hand out, her cheeks burning, but he shook his head and pocketed the knife.

"Something troubling you?" he asked.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What makes you think that?"

"0/32/0," he stated simply, and she fingered the daggers at her belt.

"Not my best performance," she said.

"That's an understatement," he replied. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She drew her knife, grimacing. "No." With a nod of understanding, Talon took a defensive stance just in time to defend against her first strike.

She slashed forward, and he sidestepped, only for her to sweep low and knock his feet from under him. Recovering quickly, he rolled to the side, avoiding three daggers that impaled themselves into the foor. Katarina moved quickly, but Talon was just as fast—her next daggers were deflected by his own, and he caught her arm as she moved to draw more.

But a knee to his groin made him draw back, and she danced out of his reach, drawing more daggers. With a growl, he recovered and he moved on the offensive, deflecting her daggers as he closed the distance between them. She was forced to back away, but he narrowed his eyes and she had only a split second to turn and block his blade from piercing her heart. She grit her teeth as they continued to trade blows, and sweat ran down her back from the exertion.

But she made a mistake; he feinted to the left, and she moved to retaliate—only for him to swing his right arm instead. She tried to respond, but she was off balance, and he stopped his blade mere centimeters from her throat.

The room was silent, both of them panting, sweating, eyes meeting.

"It's Crownguard," she blurted, and Talon's blade returned to his side as they both straightened. Katarina let out a frustrated sigh before sinking to the ground. She drew her knees up and buried her face in her arms.

"Crownguard?" Talon asked, surprised, his eyes wide, apprehension in his tone.

"He… we… we had an argument."

"Oh. An… argument." Talon repeated, testing the words. "What about?"

"He thinks… he thinks he loves me."

Talon said nothing as he processed the information. "So?"

Kat glanced up as he sat beside her and she gave him an incredulous look. "He thinks he _loves_ me," she repeated.

Talon's stare was blank.

"You're no help," she grumbled.

"What's the issue? You're dating. Isn't that the goal—to fall in love?" Talon asked.

She groaned. "That's not—you don't—you can't fall in love that quickly."

"Don't believe in love at first sight?"

"No," she replied. "It's only real in fairy tales. I'm not an idiot."

Talon was once again silent for a while. "Maybe you are," he stated, and she glared at him. "Not an _idiot_ ," he quickly clarified. "But maybe you do believe in fairy tales."

"I don't," she stated vehemently. "I _don't_."

He shrugged. "Believe what you want. But I don't think Crownguard is the type to lie. And he seems idealistic enough to believe fairy tales are real."

She was quiet, and he sighed. "It might be that he believes in fairy tales and you don't. But you can humor him, if it's something you want. _If_ you think he's worth the trouble."

With that, Talon stood and gathered her daggers from the floor as she sat still, considering his words. She still hadn't moved when he placed them beside her and made to leave.

Just before he opened the door, Kat spoke.

"Talon?"

He froze, glancing over his shoulder.

"Thanks," she said, meeting his eyes. She wasn't smiling. He nodded, then left her and her daggers alone once more.

"Garen! Open the door! That's an order!"

"That won't work—just watch and learn. Hey, Garen!" Lux said, knocking at his door once more. "I know you're in there! Let me in, or I'm coming in! I have a key!"

He didn't really consider that an order given the tone used, so he wasn't really worried about _that_ threat. But he knew Lux had a key. And he knew she'd use it. With a sigh, he rolled off his bed and made his way to the front door. He opened it, and he was greeted by the sight of his sister and his best friend.

"See? Told you he'd open the door," Lux stated as she strode into his apartment. Garen ran a hand over his face before closing the door behind them. Lux flopped onto his sofa, and Jarvan took a seat beside her. Garen sat across from them in an armchair, running a hand through his hair.

"What do you want?" he grumbled. He hadn't slept at all last night, and he'd only managed to fall asleep in the early morning for a few minutes before their incessant knocking had woken him up.

"Garen, you look awful," Lux stated, concern etching her features.

"You look like shit," Jarvan elaborated. "Are you sick?"

"No," he muttered, closing his eyes. "I didn't get much sleep."

"Was it because of the match?" Lux asked, an eyebrow raised skeptically.

"Partly, yes." Garen sighed. "But why are you two here?"

Jarvan glanced at Lux, who shrugged before speaking. "We wanted to check up on you. I heard through the grapevine that you and Kat are… on the outs. I figured Jarvan and I could talk to you. If that would help."

Garen avoided their eyes. "I don't think talking will help," he admitted. "We… I messed up."

"What did you do?" Jarvan prodded.

Garen swallowed. "I said I loved her," he murmured so softly that Jarvan didn't hear it, although the way Lux's eyes widened indicated she had heard.

"What?" Jarvan asked.

"I said… I said I loved her," Garen repeated, covering his face with his hand and leaning back against the chair. "I said it, and it upset her, and she doesn't love me."

"Wait, slow down," Jarvan said, shaking his head. "Wait, you _love_ the Blade of Noxus?"

"Yes." It occurred to Garen that he hadn't told Jarvan about his relationship with Katarina. "We were dating."

"Finally," Jarvan muttered, and Garen glanced at him in surprise from between his fingers. When Jarvan noticed the stare, he shook his head. "You've been pining after her since Kalamanda, maybe before. About time you let her know, though I'm a little disappointed you didn't tell me."

Garen sighed. "It's been… busy."

"Garen, what happened? Start at the beginning," Lux prodded.

So, with a sigh, Garen related the events that had transpired, how Kat had grown tense, how they had argued, their fallout, the awkward rehearsals and the distraction during matches.

"Geez, bro," Lux said, rubbing her ear—a habit they shared. "You really don't know how to deal with this kind of thing."

"Evidently not," he replied tersely. "But that doesn't help me."

"Garen, I'm going to ask you a question," Jarvan said, leaning forward. "Does she really need to love you at this stage in the relationship?"

Garen frowned as he considered. "She… She doesn't think she should," he replied.

"She's uncomfortable with the idea of love, sounds like," Jarvan said. "And you _have_ only been dating for… a few weeks, now. Not very long."

"She's afraid of commitment," Lux offered. "Always has been, since her mother died and she saw the way it affected her father. Hence why she's avoided long-term relationships all her life."

Garen narrowed his eyes at his sister, wondering where she'd learned this information. She caught his stare and hurried to explain. "Intel I learned in Noxus."

That was… news, to Garen. Something he hadn't known about her. She hadn't spoken about her mother's death except mentioning it briefly in passing to him, and he hadn't realized it had affected her so deeply. It was stupid of him, when he thought about it.

And Jarvan was right. She had no obligation to love him. He had no right to _expect_ her to love him—and he had reacted poorly.

"I… thank you," he told them. "But… but what should I do?" How could he apologize? How could he let her know that he knew he had been wrong, that he was still willing to work on their relationship, that he hoped she would eventually fall in love with him but that he didn't _need_ her to love him yet?

" _Talk_ to her," Jarvan said with a shrug. "That's all you can do. Apologize. See how she takes it."

" _She_ should apologize, too," Lux said, rolling her eyes. "She overreacted as well."

Garen shook his head. "No. I don't expect an apology when I'm the cause of this mess."

Lux shrugged but said nothing in reply. And Garen laughed at the pout on her face.

"Lux, Jarvan… I can't thank you enough for this," he said with a grin. He stood, and they took that as their cue to stand as well, and he wrapped them both in a giant hug.

"Anytime, bro," Lux said, patting his back.

"Yeah, anytime, _bro_ ," Jarvan said with a chuckle.

* * *

A/N: Lol they're so tilted. Anyways, thanks to meltedjujubees and littlewitchlulu for helping me out with the chapter and reading over it and offering feedback and all that good stuff (and thank meltedjujubees for the title, again). Appreciate it so much! (Also thanks for dealing with me in general lol) Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. School and life have been kicking my ass lately, which is why I haven't had much time to write. To make up for the long wait, I decided (with some prompting from meltedjujubees, so go thank her for that too) to write a fairly long chapter rather than my usual short ones. Not the longest chapter in this story, but getting up there.

From here on out, I _should_ have more time for writing since I quit my job (it sucked, and the pay wasn't worth it, and my grades were suffering). So that's good news! Bad news is, I have tests and finals coming up soon, so don't expect a chapter till December. Which will line up with the timeline of the fic quite nicely, actually, so it's not a bad thing at all.


	19. Chapter 19

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 19: The Last Rehearsal

* * *

A/N: You should definitely toggle the story contrast button once you see the divider. It'll make the last scene more... dramatic.

* * *

Rehearsal would begin soon, and Garen tugged nervously at the collar of his pink nightgown, glancing around and trying to catch a glimpse of that crimson hair he so desperately hoped to spy. So far, he'd had no luck at finding her, but there were only a few minutes left before the final dress rehearsal began. This was perhaps the single most important dress rehearsal—and he knew that Katarina wouldn't miss it. She hadn't missed a single rehearsal yet, and she'd never been late before; given that this was the last rehearsal before their performance the following day, there was no way that Kat would be absent.

Still, she was certainly cutting it close. Twisted Fate had finished telling Sona about the tempo of one of the songs (it's too fast—too fast! They're leapin' in the air, they need more time or else their leaps are gonna be tiny little bunny hops!), had finished conversing with Jayce about the lighting (doin' great, doin' great, but for this scene it's too bright), had finished speaking with Taric (the show will be splendid, Tobias, simply splendid! And, oh! Karma has finished doing all the men's makeup—wonderful!) and had begun to glance at his watch repeatedly, which usually meant that he was about to get rehearsal started. Garen approached him and asked how many minutes were left before their rehearsal began.

"Two… and a half," Twisted Fate replied, and he opened his mouth to say more before his eyes passed over Garen, and the man frowned. Noticing that Twisted Fate had become distracted, Garen glanced over his shoulder and saw that the distraction was none other than Evelynn, who approached with a slow, deliberate stride. Garen glanced between them and backed away as TF squared his shoulders, and Evelynn began speaking in hushed, hurried tones. TF's eyebrows drew together and he began speaking in low tones as well. Their voices grew louder, more urgent, and Garen realized he ought to give them some privacy (especially if they were arguing), so he turned and continued to search for Kat.

Still no Kat to be found. Of course, he couldn't see much of what was going on backstage from here; Garen walked offstage and glanced around, then sighed. No Kat.

It was as he was headed back onstage that he happened to catch the telltale movement of red in the corner of his eye, and he turned to see Katarina arriving, dropping her bag haphazardly on the floor and quickly pulling her hair into a bun. If she noticed him staring, she didn't give any indication of it as she jogged onstage, and Garen swallowed before following her on.

He tried to approach her, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Twisted Fate's voice interrupted him just as he began to speak her name.

"All right, time to start! We'll run it from the top, everyone get in position!"

And so they ran it from start to finish. Garen was pleasantly surprised to find that, although things were still unresolved between them, he and Katarina were able to perform quite well. To his knowledge, they didn't make a single mistake as they ducked and weaved and twirled together. He wasn't sure what had caused this change, but they were working together once more—and that was something he was grateful for.

And they weren't the only ones who were performing well—everyone else seemed to be doing their best during their sequences, as well, and there wasn't a single mishap—although Twisted Fate and Evelynn argued about the lighting for one song (they came to an agreement, but both parties seemed unsatisfied with the compromise). And they argued about the blocking for another scene. And they almost got into a screaming match about whether Katarina should put her hair up or leave it loose (she'd had her hair in a bun, so far, but Evelynn said that it ought to be loose, for dramatic effect, to which Twisted Fate disagreed vehemently, stating that it would get in her eyes). They eventually came to a compromise, and would allow Katarina to wear her hair in a ponytail.

Kat was silent throughout that particular exchange. Garen couldn't help but think that, if she could perform her Death Lotus with her hair flinging wildly about her, that simple pirouettes would pose no problem. But Kat seemed almost amused, and was content to let Evelynn and Twisted Fate decide how to style her hair, so Garen supposed she didn't really care one way or another.

And the rehearsal continued. It had all come together, finally—tomorrow would be the culmination of their efforts, of all their hard work, their determination, their weeks of practice. It was an exciting prospect, Garen thought as they ran the final number, and practiced their bows for the end of the show.

When rehearsal finally ended, Garen followed Katarina offstage as she gathered her things. When she noticed him trailing behind her, she sighed and turned to face him.

"Garen," she said in acknowledgement, and he swallowed, finding his voice to be suddenly dry.

"Kat," he rasped, then cleared his throat. "I was… wondering if…" He took a deep breath, remembering Jarvan and Lux's advice. "I was wondering if… you wanted to talk."

She let out another sigh, looking into his eyes, almost as if she was searching for something, and he hoped that she found whatever it was she was looking for. "I… do," she admitted, and his heart soared. But as a smile began to spread across his face, she continued, "But not… not now. I'm not… ready to talk, yet," she said roughly, frustration crossing her features.

"Kat, I'm sorry," he hurried, and suddenly that frustration in her expression was gone, and she wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Garen… Give me more time to think about this… about us." At his confused expression, she elaborated. "Give me more time to decide if this is… if this is really what I want." And then she hurried away, and Garen frowned as he watched her retreat.

What did she mean? If 'this' is what she really wants? Did she mean their relationship? Did she mean him? He had to know, so he hurried after her, catching a glimpse of her just as she turned a corner backstage. He rushed after her and, as he turned the corner, he saw a door on the right close, so he went to it and quickly opened the door, her name on his lips.

And then his jaw dropped, and his eyes widened.

Twisted Fate and Evelynn were locked in a heated embrace, kissing passionately. Garen's mind went blank, and he slammed the door closed before walking back towards the stage in a daze.

 _I… I thought they weren't dating anymore_ , Garen thought, confused. He shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it (though he wished it would be that simple to make up with Kat).

He spotted Karma and thanked her for doing his makeup, and then he left, heading towards his own quarters. It was on the way back that he spotted Amumu and Annie.

"What are you two up to?" Garen asked as he approached. Amumu grinned and Annie giggled, and Garen saw that Amumu was holding a stack of rather large posters in his arms, and that Annie held lots of tape.

"We're putting up posters for the show tomorrow!" Annie exclaimed, then grabbed a poster from Amumu and taped it to the wall.

In crayon, the poster depicted a beautiful ballerina wearing a white dress (Orianna, perhaps?), a ballerina wearing a pink dress (that had to be him, he realized), and another ballerina wearing blue and wielding a sword (that had to be Kat). In childish script, the poster proudly declared that the 'Best Ballet Ever called The Nutcracker' would be held tomorrow, and listed the appropriate times.

"You must have put a lot of time and effort into these," Garen said, impressed by their work.

"Yup!" Amumu said as he shifted the posters in his arms. Garen noticed that the little mummy was struggling with the weight, and he took the stack from Amumu, who was confused by the action but grateful to be relieved of the burden.

"Would you two like some help?" Garen asked, smiling from ear to ear. They were glad to have him, and soon the two were running around, taping posters to the walls of the Institute, and Garen found that, for the first time since he had argued with Katarina, he was happy.

* * *

The figure snarled, reaching a shaking hand out and gripping the edge of the paper before ripping it off of the wall and tearing it into pieces; they fell to the floor slowly, and gathered like fallen dust in a pile at the figure's feet.

Nostrils flaring, the figure whirled around and stomped to an unlit room, slamming the door behind it and locking it, plunging the room into complete darkness.

"How dare they…" the figure spoke, its teeth flashing in the shadows. "How dare they put on a performance of The Nutcracker…"

The screeching sound of weapons being sharpened soon filled the room, each movement methodical and filled with malice.

"How dare they put on a performance of The Nutcracker…" the figure repeated, voice growing frenzied, movements erratic. And then the figure let out a hysterical cackle. The shadows seemed to cower from the figure's maniacal laughter, from the sharpened blades, and the figure finally recovered from laughing in order to finish the train of thought.

"…without _me_!"

* * *

A/N: Oh boy, things are happening, aren't they? Sorry it's super short, and sorry it's taken so long to update. Finals hell. *shudders*

But I'm almost done with those, so guess what? Spinning chapter(s) incoming in December! Actually, there's maybe one, two chapters left before this ends, and I should be able to get these out before/around Christmas (which works sooo nicely with the fic's timeline im so happy). Anyway, hope y'all enjoy!

chickenchops- I'm glad you liked it! :)


	20. Chapter 20

**Spinning**

~A GarenxKat story~

* * *

Chapter 20: The Nutcracker

* * *

She ran through the room, searching everywhere for the damn hair tie she needed. Usually, this wouldn't be an issue; she had a whole pack of them—but of course today would be the day that they ran out. Now Katarina was left without a hair tie, and the call time for their performance was only an hour away. She supposed she _could_ go to Cassiopeia and ask to borrow one, but she'd be damned if she gave Cass any reason to gloat at her and harp at her about how she needed to patch things up with Garen. Kat knew that already. She knew they needed to talk. She knew she still liked him.

But did she really want to _commit_ to him? Did she… _could_ she… love him?

She shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts that had been plaguing her since her talk with Talon, and she doubled her efforts; she'd find a hair tie, damn it.

She checked all the usual spots—the restroom, in between the sofa cushions, under chairs. Finally, ten minutes later, she was able to find one that had fallen in between the bedside table and the bed, and she grabbed it with a sense of accomplishment… and froze.

She had a perfect view of the floor beneath her bed, and of the nutcracker that she had roughly kicked under the bed the previous day. The nutcracker Garen had made for her.

She swallowed, hesitantly reaching out for it and taking it into her hands, cradling it as thoughts of Garen filled her mind. Garen, who was sweet, kind, always a gentleman, someone she'd never consider dating until she actually did. Someone who wouldn't stab a man in the back, someone who wouldn't slit throats in the night; a man who was noble, morally upstanding—he was the complete opposite of her.

The nutcracker was roughly hewn, that was for sure. The paint job was mediocre, the thing didn't actually work right… and she still loved it. That was why she'd kicked it under the bed yesterday, after avoiding Garen after rehearsal, because she couldn't hate it—and it reminded her that she couldn't hate him, either. And it was too damned cute, the stupid thing.

She bit her lip, then sighed. After she'd tied her hair up in a ponytail, she packed all the items she would need for the performance—her makeup, her clothes, her shoes. And the nutcracker. For good luck, she told herself as she gently placed it inside the bag and zipped it closed.

* * *

Karma smiled at him as he let out a groan and stood from the chair, working out a kink in his shoulder from sitting stiff for an extended period of time. She'd finished doing his makeup, and Garen glanced at himself in the mirror to see his pink cheeks, dark eyelashes, and rosy lips. "Thank you, Karma," he said, "a beautiful job, as always."

"You're very welcome, Garen," she said as she began to organize her various makeup tools—or, whatever they were. He wasn't quite sure what she'd put on his face, but, as Taric put it, it did 'wonders' for his face. Garen thought it might have to do with his cheekbones, but he really couldn't see what the big deal about makeup was. Still, he was grateful to Karma for having done it for him and the rest of the performers. She wasn't done yet, though—she would remain backstage in case anybody needed their makeup redone between numbers or during intermission. Once she'd finished arranging her… _makeups_ to her satisfaction, she turned to Garen and placed her hands on her hips as she beamed at him. "Break a leg, as they say," she told him with a wink.

Out of habit, Garen stood tall and gave a salute, then realized his action and chuckled bashfully as Karma let out a laugh. He thanked her once more before pacing to the wings of the stage, peeking out, hoping for a glance at the audience, only to be disappointed that the curtain hadn't been raised yet. But he could hear them gathering outside—the chitter-chatter of an audience was growing steadily louder as time passed and the crowd evidently grew larger, and Garen felt something flutter in his stomach. With a tinge of surprise, Garen realized that he was nervous.

Sure, he'd fought wars before and barely batted an eye, and he'd learned to manage his fear—but this was something entirely different. He was about to perform—perform in front of countless individuals, Champions and Summoners alike, who had gathered en masse to attend the ballet. And he was about to dance in front of them—what if he made a mistake? What if he tripped and fell? With a gulp, Garen tried to distract himself, hoping that if he could just stop thinking about the crowd, he would be able to calm his nerves. He had no such luck, and so he paced backstage, rubbing at his arms, which were covered in goosebumps.

A gentle tug at his dress—oh, uh, nightgown—pulled him from his thoughts, and he looked down to see Amumu standing beside him, a smile on his face.

"Are you ready, Garen?" Amumu asked.

Garen let out a shaky chuckle. "I don't know," he admitted, "I'm a little… nervous."

"Stage fright!" Amumu exclaimed, pointing a finger up at Garen. "You have stage fright! I did, too, until Annie taught me a cool trick! I'll teach it to you, and then you'll never have stage fright again!"

Garen was intrigued. "What is this trick?"

"First, think about the scariest thing you've ever felt," Amumu said, scrunching his eyes closed as he demonstrated.

Garen followed suit, thinking back on one of the times during the war when he had gotten word that his sister might have been caught by Noxian soldiers. She hadn't—she hadn't even been anywhere near the Noxian camps at the time—but it had been one of the most terrifying moments of his life, one where he had truly dreaded the unthinkable—where he'd thought he had lost the most precious person to him.

"Are you thinking?" Amumu prompted, and Garen nodded sternly.

"Yes," he replied.

"Now, imagine that thing compared to this! This is nothing!"

Garen cracked an eye open to see Amumu staring eagerly up at him, eyes wide and smile even wider.

"Ah… uh, right," Garen managed, not wanting to let the little guy down by revealing that the trick hadn't quite done… the trick. "This is nothing!"

"Ok, so then Annie said to imagine that Tibbers is in the audience."

"R-right," Garen said, wondering where in the world this 'trick' was going.

"Then… imagine Tibbers wearing underwear!"

And Garen had to chuckle at _that_ image—it was just so unexpected. He found that, though he was still nervous and the butterflies were still fluttering in his stomach, talking with Amumu had helped calm his nerves, and so he wrapped the little mummy in his arms and lifted him into the air—earning him a squeal and then a peal of giggles as he wrapped Amumu in a hug and then returned him gently to the floor.

"Thank you," Garen said, ruffling the bandages on the top of Amumu's head.

"You're welcome! That's what friends are for!" Amumu said with a smile before skipping off to rejoin Annie's side.

With a chuckle, Garen made his way back to his place, and noticed Twisted Fate standing in the shadows, his face unreadable.

"Evenin', Crownguard," Twisted Fate said, lifting his head enough so that Garen could see his expression beneath the brim of his hat. Twisted Fate had circles under his eyes, but he bore a carefree grin. "You patch things up with Du Couteau yet?"

Garen sighed. "Not entirely. We have… we still have to talk."

Twisted Fate shrugged. "Y'know, sometimes talk will only get ya so far. Sometimes, ya gotta act."

Garen quirked an eyebrow. "Like how you and Evelynn did yesterday?"

Caught off guard, Twisted Fate's eyes widened and he sputtered, his cheeks turning slightly red. "Y-you—you saw—?"

"I won't tell anyone," Garen said quickly, raising his hands. "Besides, you seem much happier."

Twisted Fate examined Garen for several minutes with a suspicious look before it gave way to a smile, and he shook his head. "Just… keep my advice in mind," Twisted Fate said. "And—"

"Hey! TF!"

Twisted Fate turned to see who had called out to him, and Garen followed suit—to be met with a sight he would never have expected and, quite frankly, one that put him on edge.

Draven glared at Twisted Fate, axes spinning dangerously in hand as he stalked forwards.

"What do ya want?" TF growled, hand slipping behind him, and Garen saw him flipping a card slowly between his fingers.

"You!" Draven said, pointing an axe at Twisted Fate's nose. "You put on a performance of the nutcracker… and Draaaaaven isn't in it!"

Twisted Fate sighed, letting the card vanish into smoke in his fingers before rubbing his hands on his temples. "Draven, you had to be part of the class to perform."

"Draven doesn't need to be part of any class! I'm a class all my own!" Draven exclaimed while spinning his axes.

"That's not how it works," Twisted Fate argued. "These kids have spent hours working towards tonight, Draven, so put the axes away and—"

"Draaaven came to ask to be the nutcracker!" Draven said, a cheeky grin on his face.

"We have a perfectly good nutcracker right now, thank you very much," Twisted Fate said, rubbing at the bridge of his nose in frustration. Garen felt for the man—dealing with Draven was either very simple and straightforward, or a pain in the neck. There was no in-between with that man.

"I think Draven is the best fit for the role," Draven said, leaning forward and narrowing his eyes, grin never leaving his face. "Draven needs the most important part."

"And you'll have it!" cried a voice from behind them, and the three men turned to see Taric waving at them, holding a clipboard. Garen began to protest—there was absolutely no reason for Katarina to have to give up her role to Draven when she'd put so much work into it, and especially when she wasn't here to defend herself. But Twisted Fate waved a hand at Garen, effectively silencing his protests, though his frown remained.

"Excellent!" Draven said, spinning his axes.

"You can be the announcer!" Taric exclaimed, and Draven's expression grew confused.

"The announcer?" he asked, and his reaction was closely mirrored Garen.

"That's right!" Taric said, unclipping some papers from the clipboard and handing them to Draven.

"But… this isn't the nutcracker," Draven said, his lips curling in the beginnings of a snarl.

"No, it's not. But you see, the announcer's job is much more important than any _performer's_ job!" At that, Draven's head shot up, his eyes gleaming.

"Everybody in the theatre listens to your voice and obeys your commands! When you order the audience to grow quiet—they do! When you announce that the show is about to start—it does! And, most importantly, your job is the most important because it allows the entire audience to enjoy the show! Without the announcer, we wouldn't even be able to _have_ the show, let alone have a successful one. But I know that I can trust you, Draven, to do the job well! Here are the lines—all you have to do is read them aloud into the microphone, and voila!—the audience will be simply _captivated_."

Draven nodded eagerly and took the papers from Taric, quickly looking over the lines he'd been given.

Garen, for his part, shook his head, and then glanced at the clock on the wall. Ten minutes 'till downbeat, when the music would start—ten minutes 'till the show began. He glanced around and noticed that everyone had arrived and was making their way to their places. He noticed Kat holding her bag, staring hard at it, and then Karma spoke with her, and Garen's breath caught as he noticed the way the light reflected off of Kat's face, the way the makeup brought out her best features and amplified them, the way her hair was pulled into a ponytail—he swallowed as she let out a quick laugh and placed her bag carefully upon the ground before heading towards her spot besides Garen in the wings. She approached slowly, and she met his eyes as she finally stopped beside him.

"Kat," he breathed, and he saw the way she swallowed before breaking eye contact and staring straight ahead.

"Garen," she said, and perhaps he imagined the wistfulness in her voice.

"I know that now isn't the time to talk," he said, "but maybe we could talk… after?"

Kat gave him a look, and then nodded. "Yeah," she said. "We should… yeah."

He wasn't sure whether her words boded well or ill for their relationship—if it could still be called a relationship, at this point. But she wanted to talk, finally, and they had agreed to talk after the ballet had finished—and he could only hope that she wanted to keep their relationship alive as long as he did.

Kat seemed to hesitate, and then she placed a hand on his arm, sparking the sensation of electricity on his skin from the contact. "Hey," she told him, that oh-so-familiar smirk gracing her face, "break a leg."

Garen felt goosebumps rising on his skin from the feel of her warm skin against his, and he felt his ears turning red of their own accord as she continued to smirk up at him. But the grin that spread on his own face was genuine, and he raised his own hand and placed it atop hers, applying a gentle pressure.

"You, too," he said softly, almost in a whisper, and he thought he saw her cheeks redden, but it was hard to tell in the dark. After several moments, she cleared her throat and he awkwardly removed his hand, and she faced away from him, tucking a stray strand behind her ear.

Soon Draven began to talk over the speakers, asking the audience to quiet down, to relax, and to enjoy the show.

The audience clapped, and Garen met Kat's eyes, and he gave her a thumbs up.

And then the music began.

* * *

Lux glanced at her ticket once more before smiling. "Riven!" she called out as she headed down row H, towards seat 26—right next to Riven, who occupied seat 27 to the right of 26. The white-haired woman turned in her seat, popcorn shoved halfway to her mouth, and her eyes widened. She dropped the popcorn back into the bag and waved with a wide smile.

"Hi, Lux!" Riven said, and Lux tossed her arms around her friend. "I didn't know you were coming."

"Garen's in the ballet," Lux explained. _And his girlfriend is, too… but they still haven't told anybody about them dating._

"Oh, I didn't know!" Riven exclaimed. "I just know this is going to be really good—especially if Garen's in it."

"I don't know about that," Lux laughed. She gestured to the popcorn in Riven's lap. "Are you allowed to have that in here? I thought the sign said no food or drinks."

Riven's eyes widened, and she glanced around, hunching over the bag. "What?"

"Yeah…?"

"Shit, I didn't know that," Riven muttered under her breath. "Quick, help me finish this." She stuffed the bag under Lux's nose.

Lux laughed before helping herself to a handful, and Riven began shoveling the popcorn down, suspiciously glancing around to make sure none of the ushers had noticed she was eating. Once they'd finished, Riven retrieved her backpack from under her seat and stuffed the empty bag of popcorn inside it. Lux tried not to think about the kernels and oil that would likely stain the bag.

Riven gave her a smile and began to chat animatedly about how she'd heard so much about The Nutcracker, but how she'd never seen it herself—she'd never seen any ballet before, actually. She was excited to finally get the chance to see the famed ballet in person.

Lux nodded politely before catching some movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see Cassiopeia slithering into the aisle, offering the light mage a fanged smile as she approached. A man in a familiar blue cloak followed her silently, his face hidden under his cowl. Talon. Lux's heartbeat thudded in her ears, and she swallowed as the two Du Couteau's approached.

"Lux, darling, so good to see you," Cassiopeia said, taking the seat beside Lux. Talon sat to Cassiopeia's left, one seat away from Lux. "I see you're friends with the Exile."

"I'm not an Exile," Riven pouted, leaning forward to glare past Lux. "You know that."

"It _is_ your title, though, Riven," Cassiopeia said, examining her nails. She quirked a brow as she met Riven's glare with a smirk on her lips. "Though it may be… self-imposed, you are an exile."

Riven narrowed her eyes at Cassiopeia. "And you're a snake," she said, and Lux had to contain herself from laughing at the terrible comeback.

Cassiopeia had no such restraint, however, and tittered. "Yes, yes I am, dear. How are you?"

Riven huffed, crossing her arms, and leaning back in her seat, turning her glare to the curtains on the stage. "You can't just insult me and then expect me to engage in normal conversation, Cass," Riven stated.

"Oh, come now, Riven, I was only teasing you," Cassiopeia said. Riven rolled her eyes.

"I forgot how much of a pain you are," Riven said with a slight smile, once more meeting Cassiopeia's gaze. She met Lux's gaze. "She's always been a pain to deal with, even before she went all snake-lady."

"Hey!"

Riven laughed, and then it was Cassiopeia's turn to realize she was the one being teased. She huffed, leaning back in her seat. "Talon, be a dear and fetch us some refreshments," she said with a wave of her hand at the assassin seated to her left.

"You can't eat or drink in here," Lux said, "they don't allow it."

Cass scoffed. "What? No refreshments?"

"That's what I said," Riven commented.

"No refreshments," Lux confirmed. "Says so on the sign."

"Damn," Talon muttered darkly. "I didn't eat lunch."

"Why didn't you eat lunch?" Riven asked.

Talon glanced towards her direction, meeting Lux's eyes before rolling them and staring at the stage. "I was busy," he said.

Lux rolled her own eyes at the excuse, but refrained from commenting. Cass glanced between them, then returned her attention to the stage when the lights began to dim.

"It's starting!" Riven whispered excitedly.

"Ladies and gentlemen," drawled a voice over the speakers, and Lux made a face as she recognized the voice. "Drrraaaaaaven's here to ask everyone to silence all noise-making devices—especially babies, those things make too much noise—"

"Draven! Stick to the script!"

"Tch, fine. Please refrain from talking during the show. Remember, no flash photography of any kind permitted. And Draaaaven says, enjoy the show, folks!"

The applause began as the curtains rose, and when the applause ended, the orchestra tuned their instruments. And then the music began.

* * *

Jayce yawned as he dimmed the lights for the show. He'd set up the equipment to be timed perfectly to every cue, for the lights to follow the appropriate dancers, to change color when necessary. Consequently, he was a little bored at the moment, as he wasn't really needed. The wonders of techmaturgy.

As the music started up and the curtains lifted, he yawned again, wondering if he would be able to sneak a nap in before the intermission. He decided against it—after all, if anything were to malfunction, he'd have to be there to attend to the lights. He still had manual control over all of the lights, after all.

Up in the catwalks, there were few lights, so as not to distract from the performance occurring down below on the stage. What minimal lighting was present was only that which was needed to navigate the catwalks safely.

So when those lights flickered, Jayce glanced around, wondering if the power had cut out for a bit. The lighting equipment hadn't been affected, however—only the lights on the catwalk. Strange.

When it happened a second time, Jayce narrowed his eyes and took a more careful survey of his surroundings. Nothing out of the ordinary—certainly nothing that ought to be affecting his equipment like this.

That was when he heard it—a slight clanging sound, as if someone were walking on the catwalk behind him, footsteps on the metal floor. But when he turned, he saw nothing. The lights flickered once more before going out altogether, leaving Jayce in near-darkness. He had only the lights from the stage to grant him vision, and up here in the catwalks, they provided hardly any vision at all.

Swallowing, Jayce reached into his pocket and tried to find his lighter. He flicked it on, and the small flame only seemed to darken the shadows around him.

Jayce began to walk slowly towards the exit. He needed to let Taric know about the lighting issue; it was a good thing he'd set up and programmed the lighting for the rest of the show, or else things wouldn't run so smoothly without him up there.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound again—the light tapping against metal that Jayce swore sounded like footsteps. He whirled around, lighter in hand.

And his eyes widened in shock, and he began to back away in haste. He opened his mouth to yell, but then his leg knocked against something, and when he turned around, he nearly screamed—he would have, too, except that a knife plunged into his back, and his eyes rolled into his head as he crumpled to the floor.

* * *

The first number went exactly as they'd rehearsed, and Garen was starting to regain his confidence. Sure, there was no ignoring the butterflies in his stomach, but he also couldn't ignore the sense of purpose he experienced as he danced across the floor in time with the music, the way his heart thudded in his ears in excitement when he twirled as he and the others decorated the tree on the stage.

Time passed in a whirl of dancing and music, and then it was time for Katarina's entrance. Katarina, The Nutcracker, began her dance, fighting against the wicked mice and the Mouse King, Blitzcrank. The two drew their swords and clashed, and it was quite a sight to behold—but The Nutcracker was losing to the Mouse King. Clara had to help—so Garen took off his slipper and threw it at the Mouse King.

It hit Blitzcrank on the face, and the machine turned its head to look at him. The Mouse King was distracted, and The Nutcracker took advantage of this and stabbed him and then the Mouse King gestured for the mice to retreat as he fell, and The Nutcracker was victorious.

There was another scene before the intermission began, and Garen and Katarina sat side by side onstage and watched as their fellow dancers twirled around them dressed as snowflakes, fake snow falling from the ceiling. Garen met Kat's eyes, and they held their gaze, and it was then that Garen noticed that their fingers were almost touching. He could reach out—he could take her hand, and maybe she wouldn't pull away. But he stopped himself, and returned his attention to the performers, oblivious to the way Katarina's own fingers twitched.

When the curtains drew closed and Draven gave a short announcement about the duration of the intermission, the performers all withdrew backstage for a short but well-deserved break. During that time, Garen took a swig of water from his water bottle, and he noticed Kat doing the same. She untied her ponytail, running her hand through her hair and shaking it out a bit before putting it back up again, and then she took a seat and leaned against the wall, balancing her sword on her knees.

It was, surprisingly, a real sword. Probably Taric's work. She'd used a fake, plastic one for the first few rehearsals, but for the last week she'd been using the real sword during rehearsals. It wasn't sharp—in fact, Garen cringed at how dull it was; it seemed so poorly taken care of that it would break if it were to be used in a real fight. But, he supposed, it wasn't as though they could have sharpened blades on stage—too many accidents could happen.

Kat seemed tired, contemplative. She chewed on her lip as she stared at the floor, and Garen wondered if she was thinking about him—if she was thinking about _them_. He looked away. Maybe she was right. Maybe they weren't meant for each other. The thought made his chest constrict in a way that made it impossible to breathe, and Garen closed his eyes, running his hand through his hair, damp with sweat from the exertion of performance.

If she would be happier without him… then who was he to keep her? With a heavy heart, Garen took another swig of water before heading to Karma to ensure that his makeup was still in order. Karma took one look at him and laughed, and she began to redo his makeup, which he had apparently messed up somehow (he had no idea how, but Karma didn't really have time to explain, since she had to tend to everyone else's makeup as well).

Once she had finished, Garen hesitated before moving to Katarina's side. She glanced at him and offered him a hesitant smile; Garen took a seat beside her, and she didn't move away from him. Was that a good sign? He wasn't sure.

"You did well out there," Kat said, breaking the silence between them. She hadn't stopped staring at the floor, but he felt as though she was still observing him from the corner of her eye.

"Thank you," he said, thinking of what to say, of what he _should_ say. "You did well, too."

Kat snorted, then sighed as she glanced up and fixated on something. Garen followed her gaze and beheld Annie helping Amumu tighten one of his bandages, watching as they began to play a game of tag and Twisted Fate chased after them, trying to get them to stop. He glanced back to Kat, and the ghost of a smile was visible in the way the corners of her lips turned upwards slightly, and Garen felt his heartbeat quicken.

"Everyone's done well," she said softly. "Things are going so smoothly. Guess all our hard work is paying off."

"It almost seems like things are going _too_ well," Garen chuckled. She finally looked at him, a glint in her eyes that seemed familiar, teasing, almost.

"Don't curse us, now, Garen," she said, a smirk growing on her face. "That's the last thing we want."

He chuckled, and gave no reply as he glanced towards Amumu and Annie again, who were being scolded by Twisted Fate. "You'll never believe what I saw yesterday," he said, deciding to change the subject.

"I won't?"

"No, you won't."

"Try me."

"Twisted Fate. And Evelynn."

He saw her surprise from the corner of his eye, the way she leaned forward off of the wall, shifting ever so slightly to lean closer to him.

"No _way_ ," she breathed.

"Way," he replied, glancing at her and offering a smile. "Told you you wouldn't believe it."

"Shit, you got me," she laughed, and Garen could almost forget that they'd ever fought, he could almost imagine that things were patched up between them, that they were happy and that nothing was wrong.

They sat in silence after that until Taric came around and told them to get in their places, that intermission was almost over. Quietly, Garen stood, and he offered his hand to Kat. She didn't hesitate in taking it, and he helped her to her feet before they separated and went to their respective places to wait in the wings.

It was time for the second half of the show.

* * *

"So, what did you think?" Cassiopeia asked as she tossed a grape into her mouth. Refreshments were being served in the lobby during intermission, and Cassioepeia had wasted no time in getting them a table and some delicious food, along with alcohol for them all, though Riven opted for water instead.

Talon shrugged, paying more attention to his food than his sister. Cass glared at him until he finally offered more than just a shrug. "It's a ballet. What do you _want_ me to say?"

"Whether you enjoyed it or not," Cass muttered, rolling her eyes.

"… Kat's in it. She swings around a sword sometimes." Lux laughed, nearly spewing out her wine on Cass.

Cassiopeia let out a sigh of frustration, knowing that was all she'd be able to get out of her brother. She turned her attention to Lux, who had finished laughing, though she seemed to share a glance with Talon that sent her into a set of subdued giggles.

"And you, Lux? What's your opinion of the show?" Perhaps she'd be able to garner a more civil answer from the light mage, even though her behavior was strange today.

"I thought it was… the casting choice was interesting," Lux said with a muffled chortle, and Cass was surprised to note that Talon chuckled softly. "But Garen and Katarina are both doing well in their roles. The choreography's beautiful, the dancers are keeping rhythm and the blocking is executed nicely. It seems well put together."

Cass nodded, finding that she agreed with Lux's opinion. Finally, she turned to Riven as she popped another grape into her mouth, chewing on it and swallowing before speaking. "And you, dear?" she asked.

Riven swallowed her forkful of food before responding. She scratched her cheek, looking surprisingly sheepish. "I guess I'm not cultured enough like you guys, to really see all the stuff you're talking about," she said softly, color rising in her cheeks. "I… I'm a little underwhelmed, actually. I thought it was kind of… boring." Talon burst into laughter, and Riven prompty began shoveling food into her mouth once more, embarrassed.

Cassiopeia heaved a dramatic sigh before plucking another grape from the bunch on her plate and eating it. After swallowing she shook her head. "Stop being so… difficult, Talon," she chided her brother, to which he shrugged.

"No," he stated simply before taking a swig of his beer. Lux snorted, and Talon shot her a glare.

Cassiopeia narrowed her eyes at the interaction and opened her mouth, a question burning on her tongue, but at that moment, Draven's voice spoke over the intercom, announcing that the intermission was almost over and that the patrons should return promptly to their seats lest they miss the second half of the show.

The party rose after Cass had left the tip, and shuffled their way through the crowd to their seats. After a minute or so, the lights dimmed once more and the curtains rose; the orchestra began to play, and the ballet had begun once more.

* * *

Garen couldn't keep the smile from his face as he watched Amumu and Annie dance around Cho'gath (whose dress was much nicer than Garen's, he thought—but then he caught his thoughts and shook his head—he was absolutely not jealous over a _dress_ ). The two youngsters didn't miss a beat, and the other yordles that accompanied them in the dance were also perfect. Because of Annie's help during the intermission, none of Amumu's bandages were loose enough to cause him to trip, and Garen couldn't help but feel a surge of pride as Amumu executed a spectacular pirouette flawlessly. Annie did the same, and Garen's grin grew even wider.

Someone nudged his shoulder, and he turned to face whoever wanted his attention, surprised to find that it was Kat.

"You look like a dork," she murmured softly, a smile on her own lips. He chuckled in response, noting the way her gaze kept leaving his and turning back towards Amumu and Annie.

"You're proud of them, too," Garen replied in a low tone, and she made a quiet sound of disagreement, though there didn't seem to be much sincerity behind the demonstration.

"Nope," she replied, though her eyes never left the stage.

"Of course not," he said, and she sighed, facing him.

"Garen…" she began, her tone serious, and he met her gaze; her brow was furrowed, and she bit her lower lip. Something passed between them, and Garen forgot everything except her eyes, and the way they stared into his, the way something sparked behind her gaze, the way they narrowed ever so slightly, so green, like emeralds, they—

"Crownguard, Du Couteau!" Twisted Fate said, and it was then that Garen and Kat both noticed how close they'd drawn to one another, and they pulled back, leaning away and avoiding one another's eyes, hearts thumping at alarming rates and blushes decorating their faces, visible even under their makeup. Twisted Fate noticed, but didn't comment. He put his hands on his hips and glared at them. "The number's almost over. Get to y'all's places—y'all are on after this."

Garen swallowed and nodded, and Katarina glanced at him and met his eyes before looking away and trotting to her place.

Katarina entered first, and Garen wouldn't be entering for several minutes. Without even realizing it, he began to tap his foot to the music and he crossed his arms as he watched her dance with the others onstage.

He heard a noise from behind him—it sounded like someone had called out. But when he turned, he saw nothing out of the ordinary; the lighting was sparse backstage, but the few people who milled about didn't seem to have noticed anything. Garen turned his attention back to the stage; it was almost time for him to join the others.

A sweep of the arm by Katarina was his cue, and when he saw it, he danced onstage, smiling as much as he could as they were all supposed to do (so they didn't look like they hated life, Evelynn had commented once). The dance continued, and the number was almost through when Garen thought he heard that same noise—the noise of someone yelling, a sound he had grown familiar with on the battlefield. One he never expected to hear on a stage. He glanced offstage to his left, and what he saw made him falter in his movements.

Twisted Fate was lying facedown on the floor, unconcious, it seemed. Before Garen had any time to think about what he should do, he saw Taric rush to TF's side, kneeling. Garen hesitated before meeting Kat's eyes—she'd noticed, too, but the ballet was still continuing, and TF had warned them that the show had to go on, no matter what. Silently, they agreed to keep dancing—it was what TF would have wanted. Taric would take care of him, and—

And this time, another cry rang out from the sidelines, and Garen turned to see that Taric, too, had collapsed. Garen's eyes widened, and it was then that he noticed Karma lying in the wings as well, also unconscious.

Something was wrong. Very, _very_ wrong.

Just as he thought that, the lights in the entire hall went out; the music came to a sudden halt as the musicians were unable to read their music, and the audience was entirely unaware of the catastrophe unfolding before them.

And then a familiar cackle rang throughout the hall, and Garen's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh, no," he breathed.

* * *

Riven tried (and failed) to stifle a yawn beside Lux, and Lux had to force herself to keep a straight face for Cassiopeia's benefit; she'd already let loose a few giggles already at Riven's barely concealed yawns, and Cass had given her a scathing glare for interrupting the performance. Really, Lux knew how to behave herself at events like these; she'd grown up attending royal balls and performances and ballets like this when she was a little girl in Demacia, and her parents had drilled proper manners into her before she could walk. But it was just too funny to see Riven so utterly _bored,_ and to see Talon's _ridiculous_ expressions, and while she respected the performers, it was just too hard not to laugh. But she did her best, if only to keep on Cassiopeia's good side; if things patched up between her brother and Kat, it was very probable that Cass and Lux might end up being… sisters-in-law. Now _that_ was a scary thought.

The performance was coming along. Lux had seen this ballet a few times in her youth; her mother had forced her to attend, and Lux had thought it was unfair, because _Garen_ wasn't forced to go, but her protests had largely been ignored. Now, if she remembered correctly, there wasn't too much left of the ballet—they were perhaps one or two numbers away from the end. Clara was supposed to appear soon…

Right on time, Garen danced onstage and joined the other performers. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except that Garen seemed a little nervous; he kept glancing off to the side with a worried look on his face, and that surprised Lux—he hadn't seemed nervous earlier. But before she had time to follow that train of thought, the lights in the hall cut out suddenly—even the performers in the pitt were without light for their music stands, which meant that the power had probably gone out.

Lux narrowed her eyes. Something… was wrong, here. Lux glanced to her left and met Talon's eyes—he seemed just as concerned as her. Beside her, Cassiopeia's tongue flicked out, and the woman started; Riven leaned forward in her chair, hands curled into fists and brow furrowed as she stared intently at the stage. Lux's hand moved to her waist where she kept her baton—and closed on nothing but air. She cursed—she'd left her baton behind in her rush to arrive on time.

And then haunting laughter rang out through the halls, and Lux's eyes widened and her mouth fell slack as the spotlight shone on a figure that nothing could have prepared her to see.

Clad in a red, regal suit with blue pants (and a hat that Lux was pretty sure belonged to Caitlyn), and bearing two large swords, Shaco cackled away on downstage right, the part of the stage closest to the audience—and currently in front of all the other performers. The lights on the stage returned again, and Shaco drew his swords and pointed them towards the performers on stage, who were stunned by his unexpected arrival.

"You dared to put on a performance of The Nutcracker without me!" he cried, twirling his blades in his hands, a wide grin on his face. "There can be no authentic performance of The Nutcracker without… Nutcracko! But now that I'm here… let's have some fun!" He let out a hysterical bark of laughter, and then he vanished in a small puff of smoke.

Immediately, chaos ensued onstage. Lux rose to see if she could find a Summoner to intervene, but, to her dismay, she noticed several bodies laying prone in the back—Shaco had taken out the Summoners who had been acting as security for the show. She glanced at Cassiopeia, who leaned backwards in her chair.

"Shouldn't we help?" Lux asked, noting both Du Couteau's reactions—Talon was also reclining in his chair, a glint of amusement in his golden eyes. He met her gaze and shrugged.

"Kat can take care of herself. So can your brother," he stated simply.

"It's just Shaco," Cass added.

" _Just_ Shaco," Lux muttered darkly, turning to see if Riven would be willing to help. It was immediately obvious to her that Riven would not be helping.

The young woman was leaning forward in her chair, her mouth hanging slightly ajar, but lips curved upwards, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She felt Lux's stare on her and turned to meet her gaze.

"Wow," Riven breathed. "I thought it was boring, but boy, this looks really good!" Then she turned back to the stage, giving the scene her rapt attention.

Lux couldn't help it—she brought her hand to her own face and groaned. But… Cass and Talon _did_ have a point… Lux lifted her eyes and watched the stage, noting how Katarina had drawn her own sword and how Garen had assumed a defensive stance, their backs to one another as they glanced around, awaiting Shaco's next appearance.

She could only hope that Talon was right; without her baton, there was no way Lux could help them. They were on their own.

* * *

Kat wasn't sure exactly when they'd covered each other's backs—but they were doing just that, now, and she was grateful for the contact, the security it offered. Kat had drawn her sword immediately upon noticing Taric fall; they weren't in an ideal situation, out in the open like this, where Shaco could approach from any side, but at least this way, they negated his ability to sneak up on them from behind. Amumu and Annie rushed to their sides once Shaco vanished, and Kat wanted to yell at them to never turn their back on an enemy, but what was the use? They had no idea where he would come from—only that he would.

"What do we do?" Annie asked, her eyes wide; beside her, Amumu shivered, and tears gathered in his panicked eyes.

"Try to get off the stage—" Garen began, but then he was cut off by a scream. Some of the other performers had tried to run off to the side and retreat backstage—only to run right into one of Shaco's boxes. He struck when their backs were turned, and they crumpled to the floor. "Nevermind," Garen said, narrowing his eyes as Shaco laughed and made a face at them all before disappearing once more.

"We need to come up with a plan," Kat said under her breath to Garen as she scanned their surroundings for any sign of movement.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking," Garen mumbled as he scanned the stage; there were only a handful of performers left onstage who were conscious—the students from their dance class, and that was it. As his gaze passed over Cho'gath, his eyes widened, and he felt a grin tugging at the edges of his mouth. Kat felt the change in his posture as he stood taller, and she elbowed him.

"Got a plan?" she asked.

"Yeah. I got a plan," he said. "I need you to distract him for a few minutes."

Kat narrowed her eyes, racking her brain for some sort of idea that would keep Shaco preoccupied for such a long amount of time. Then it came to her.

"Ready?" she asked, and Garen grunted in reply. That was her cue.

With a shunpo, Katarina darted away from Garen and landed downstage left, away from the others in order to give them the space they needed for whatever Garen had planned and to keep Shaco away from them. Taking a deep breath, she raised her sword and pointed it to her right, where Shaco had appeared before. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, and she felt a familiar bloodlust curl inside her, and she smirked.

"You're not the real Nutcracker!" she said, making sure her voice was loud enough for the entire hall to hear. The audience was completely silent and still, watching her every move, and her voice echoed through the hall. "I am!"

She felt rather than saw the movement at her back, and she turned in time to deflect a knife that would have impaled her. Shaco grinned at her, but his smile didn't meet his eyes; she saw the fury in them.

"I am _Nutcracko_ ," he snarled, and then he vanished in a puff of smoke, and Kat felt her pulse quicken. She forced her expression into a purely apathetic one—forced herself to look as though his very presence didn't make her wary and her neck prickle as though someone were watching her.

"I am the true Nutcracker!" Shaco's voice sounded, echoing throughout the hall; she couldn't pinpoint where the sound had originated from. "You, foolish girl, are nothing but a sham! You know nothing of the art, the true mastery of the form required to fill this role! You know nothing of entertainment, of how to have _fun_."

Kat scoffed. Was Shaco _actually_ insulting her ballet technique? Well, that would just make this even easier. With a toss of her hair, she raised her blade once more.

"Then let's have a contest," she said, and she knew she'd caught Shaco's attention. "We'll have a duel. Whoever wins is the real Nutcracker. The _best_ Nutcracker." She sneered, making sure to show a glint of teeth, knowing it would infuriate Shaco even further. Her proposal would surely hurt his pride—even insinuating that she was a better Nutcracker than him would be crossing a line. And, sure enough, he appeared across from her, his own blades drawn, and he twirled them in his hands before cackling.

"A contest?" he mused as he began to juggle his blades, his eyes never leaving her own. "What's the point of a _contest_ when it's clear what the result will be?" And then he vanished, and Kat narrowed her eyes, ears listening intently, heartbeat thrumming in her ears, and she spun in time to meet his blade once more, sparks flying from the contact between their weapons. With a smirk, she ducked low, sweeping into a kick and knocking his feet from under him.

Or, she would have—if he didn't explode on contact with her leg, sending her flying backwards; she rolled to lessen the impact, and she spun around to meet another swing from one of Shaco's blades. He cackled at her as he swung his other blade towards her exposed side, and she grunted as she shoved him away and used her shunpo to teleport behind him, taking him by surprise. She took the time to reach into her coat pocket in a practiced, quick movement before drawing one of her own knives, a grin on her face.

It was then that Shaco's eyes lit up with something besides fury, and Kat knew that glint was mirrored in her own eyes as well. He was starting to enjoy this fight. Good. Out of the corner of her eye, Kat saw Garen and the others talking, whispering—but Shaco was paying her his full attention as he assessed her with a newfound respect.

"The point," she said, angling her blade so that light glinted into his eyes, and he shifted to keep the glare from blinding him, "is that I'll beat you."

"Very well," he said, and he tossed one of his blades into the air before catching it and cackling maniacally. "We'll play your little game. May the best Nutcracko win!"

Kat smirked and gave her own blades a quick twirl before raising them into a defensive stance. "May the best Nutcracker win," she echoed, and then he vanished, and she spun to meet his blades once more. With a quick spin, she angled her sword at his legs, but he cut off her movement by swinging at her head, forcing her to halt her movements and retreat as he followed up with an uppercut.

She narrowed her eyes before throwing her knife at him, and he dodged to the side rather than knocking it away before he threw his own shiv at her. She knocked it out of the air with her sword, and at that very moment, Shaco vanished, and she was only barely able to react in time and jump out of the range of his swing from behind, rolling into a crouch; his knives swiped through the air where her neck had been just moments before, and Kat felt the adrenaline course through her as she realized how close she had come to falling to his blades.

She rose slowly, reaching into her jacket and producing another blade, noting that Garen still didn't seem to be ready. He was making small gestures with his hand as the group watched closely. Seemed like they needed more time.

Well, she was more than happy to give them that. Kat let out a laugh of her own as Shaco vanished once more, and she turned around, her sword meeting his blade. "You're a one-trick pony, aren't you?" she taunted, hoping to get a rise out of him. It worked. Shaco's eyes narrowed, and his next swing at her had much more force behind it. She blocked it easily, parrying with her own swing, which he blocked—but Kat had him on the defensive, and she was on the offensive—she was in her element.

She tossed her knife towards Shaco, and he once more dodged the incoming projectile, confirming Kat's suspicion: he didn't want to get hit. Too bad for him: hitting targets was her specialty. With practiced, speedy movements that most of the audience missed, Kat produced more than a dozen knives and threw them in rapid succession towards Shaco, who was forced to dodge them by vanishing into a puff of smoke. Knowing he would appear behind her, she turned around and rushed forward, sword drawn—

Only to be struck by terror. Fear, absolute and total fear, coursed through her, filling every nerve, every fiber of her being, and she had to run, panic-stricken—and she recovered just in time to meet Shaco's blade with her own. But her swing was weak, and his was filled with anger at her earlier taunting, and Kat cried out as his blade shattered her dull sword.

With a shunpo, she dashed away, breathing hard. He'd gotten her with one of those damned boxes. There was no telling how many more he had placed around the stage, and there was one thing that she was sure of—if she ran into another one of those, she might not survive. She had to be especially careful, but she couldn't see those boxes, she couldn't see where Shaco would disappear to. She couldn't keep this up for much longer, she realized as she threw the useless remains of the sword to the ground; eyes narrowing in concentration, Kat drew another dagger and took a defensive stance. Shaco was nowhere to be seen.

 _Hurry up, Garen_ , she thought as her eyes scanned her surroundings. She felt as though something was off. Shaco was taking too long to show himself. What was he up to…?

She spun around in time to meet Shaco's blades once again, sparks flying as their weapons crashed. She grit her teeth as he pushed against her, her muscles straining with effort.

"A one-trick pony, hm?" Shaco said smugly, then he cackled. "We'll see about that."

Kat's eyes widened as she felt her neck prickle, and she shunpo'd away just as a pair of blades would have cleaved her head from her shoulders. Staggering back, Kat felt her stomach drop as she faced not one, but two Shaco's.

"Shit," she muttered. She couldn't hold anything back, now; if she wanted to live, she would have to pull out all the stops. Hopefully, Garen would be ready to follow up; she had to act now. In the blink of an eye, Katarina flashed behind one of the Shaco's, hoping it was the real one.

And she began to spin.

* * *

Garen wiped the sweat from his brow as he noticed Katarina begin to struggle against Shaco. They were both formidable foes in their own rights, with each being able to defeat the other based on strategy and timing. Yet once Kat ran into one of Shaco's boxes, he knew things were going to be hard for her.

But he had finished explaining his plan to the others. Orianna and Blitzcrank stood together, ready and in position for their phase of the plan. Annie had gathered a small flame into her hand and glared at the space where Shaco had just vanished from. Amumu stood with narrowed eyes, concentrating very hard. Cho'gath was rummaging through his dress, and Kog'maw was… well, Kog'maw.

It was time.

Cho'gath moved first, throwing down one of the many pink wards that he had kept with him to defend against Teemo's shrooms. Immediately, several of Shaco's boxes became visible, and Kog'maw made quick work of them, his acidic spit dissolving the boxes quickly. As Katarina kept Shaco distracted, Amumu moved forward, and Cho'gath threw down another pink ward, and the group cleared another round of boxes, slowly making their way downstage towards the fight.

Things were getting dire between Katarina and Shaco, Garen realized. Shaco had summoned his clone, and he knew immediately what Katarina was about to do.

" _Now_!" Garen cried as Kat leapt behind one of the Shaco's, and Amumu tossed a bandage at the other Shaco, immobilizing him as Katarina's daggers began flying towards the two.

With a cry and plenty of tears, Amumu surrounded the area with a blast of power, and Shaco was snared in place, taking the brunt of Katarina's assault.

Blitzcrank moved into action just as Amumu's snare ran out, his hand flying forward and grabbing the closest Shaco. Orianna immediately threw her ball at him, and he was drawn towards it, stunned, allowing Annie the perfect opportunity to summon Tibbers directly atop him and throw fiery spell after fiery spell at him.

Garen raced to Kat's side as she spun, knives still flying towards the Shaco nearby.

And that was when the Shaco that Annie was attacking exploded, and those gathered around him cried out in pain; they were incapacitated, for the moment, and would need time to recover from their wounds. Garen's eyes widened, and the Shaco before them vanished.

"Crap!" Kat muttered darkly as she finished spinning, "he's out of my range!"

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said roughly, meeting his eyes, her eyes gleaming with an emotion that Garen would have loved to dwell on, but which he couldn't put a name to at the moment, focused as he was on the battle at hand.

Garen narrowed his eyes, and he wished that he had brought his sword with him. He was without a weapon; it had been a gamble, but he had hoped that they would have been lucky and hit the real Shaco instead of his clone; Unfortunately, that hadn't been the case. Shaco was still here, somewhere, and if Garen was right, he would go after—

Shaco appeared directly behind Kat, his shiv heading towards her neck in a deadly arc. Kat's eyes widened in realization as she sensed Shaco's presence, but she had been distracted by Garen's arrival—there was no way she could react in time.

Without realizing it, Garen had already been moving, reaching for the only weapon he had at his disposal.

"You villain!" Garen cried out, summoning all of his power and throwing his ballet slipper towards Shaco. It hit him directly in the face, and Shaco let out a cry as it sent him flying backwards, where he crashed to the ground, out cold.

Kat's mouth hung open as she stared at the unconscious Shaco, watching as Kog'maw waddled over and began drooling all over him, and Blitzcrank and Cho'gath gathered Shaco up and escorted him outside, where the Summoners would deal with him.

She turned to Garen, her mouth no longer ajar, and there was a strange expression on her face, as though she were seeing him for the first time in a long while.

"Are you all right?" he asked once more, taking a step forward and, without realizing it, reaching a hand out towards her face, running his hand over a cut that was on her cheek. She closed her eyes at the contact, and her hand found his, holding it there.

"I'm…" she breathed, then opened her eyes and met his gaze once more."I'm fine," she finished. She seemed to consider something, then laughed. "Fuck it," she muttered.

And then her lips were against his, and her arms were wrapped tightly around him, and her hands were in his hair, and her body was pressed flush against his, and it was all Garen could do to groan into the kiss and return it for all he was worth. And for what seemed like a small eternity, there was nothing but the two of them, and the press of their lips against one another, and the wonderful sensation of _them_.

When he drew back for air, he realized what they'd done. He tried to draw away. "I thought… I thought you didn't…" he began, confusion evident in his tone.

"I did," Kat said, drawing him back to her. "I did love you. I just didn't want to admit it. But fuck it, I love you, damn it."

And Garen felt like his heart would fly out of his chest, and this time, he brought their lips together as the audience began to clap and cheer, and the curtains fell behind them.

* * *

"That was _amazing_!" Riven cried out as she rose to her feet enthusiastically and began clapping in earnest while the curtains fell.

Lux shared a mutual look of incredulousness with the two Du Couteau's seated beside her, and then she let out a nervous laugh. "Uhh…"

"Amazingly _bad_ ," Talon offered, and Cass slapped his arm.

"Ow!" Talon let out, and Lux snorted in amusement.

" _Sensitive_ , Talon?" she said, lifting an eyebrow at him as a sly grin touched her lips, and his cheeks flushed and he looked away.

"Shut up," he muttered.

Cass glanced between them, and then her eyes widened in realization and she rolled her eyes. " _Ugh_ ," Cass let out, and Lux met Talon's gaze in uncertainty before returning her attention to Cass once more."I don't even want to know about you two," Cass muttered before peering past Lux at Riven, who was still grinning from ear to ear and clapping furiously. "You enjoyed it that much, Riven?"

"Oh, you bet!" Riven said with a smile. "Wow, what a performance! I loved it!"

"During intermission you said you thought it was boring," Cass said.

Riven paused in her clapping and gave the woman a sheepish grin. "Well… yeah. It was... I did think that. But this _second half_!" Her eyes gleamed. "It had everything! Action, romance—it was amazing!"

Lux snorted, refraining from commenting that what had transpired wasn't actually part of the show. Then the group returned their attention to the stage as the curtains rose—it was time for the performers to be acknowledged and to give their bows.

Lux made a face. "Ew! Gross!"

Garen and Katarina were still making out onstage, and the curtains hastily dropped back down. Unfortunately, it happened once more, and Lux made a gagging sound and shuddered.

"Get a room," Talon muttered darkly, voicing Lux's thoughts.

"Seriously," she mumbled. Finally, the curtains rose and fell for the last time (this time Garen and Katarina had been separated by Amumu and Annie, who guided them to join in with the group bow). Riven continued to babble on about what she enjoyed during the unexpected arrival of Shaco, still blissfully unaware that his appearance wasn't actually a part of the ballet.

The group then exited the theatre, making for the lobby. There, the performers would gather for pictures and greetings once they'd finished up backstage. The group bid farewell to Riven, who was off to her room to catch some shut-eye since she had a match in the early morning. She asked them to tell Garen and Kat that they'd done a wonderful job, and that she thought the ballet was _absolutely amazing_.

Cassiopeia had ordered flowers, and they arrived just in time. She made Talon hold them. Lux snickered; Talon glared.

They waited for several minutes, the rest of the audience filtering out of the theatre, some of them lingering to see the performers and some of them leaving. And then, from the hallway which led backstage, a ragged-looking Twisted Fate appeared, holding his hat on his head. A Summoner chased after him with concern on his face, but Twisted Fate waved the man away, then adjusted his jacket and stood straight, looking at the crowd with a smile.

"Let's give a round of applause to the wonderful performers of tonight's show!" he said, loud enough for everyone in the lobby to hear, and he stepped aside as the ballerinas began to filter out through the doors. The lobby erupted into thunderous applause.

There first came several yordles who had been extras, then Blitzcrank and Orianna (who both hummed happily, content that they had executed an exemplary performance), Cho'gath and Kog'maw (who drooled happily as he waddled beside Cho'gath, who wiped tears from his eyes with a dainty handkerchief), Annie and Amumu (who skipped along hand in hand), and—finally—Garen and Katarina, who were also holding hands, shoulders touching, whispering in hushed tones to one another with smiles on their faces.

Lux and Cassiopeia clapped loudly for their siblings, and Talon grunted (his hands were occupied holding the flowers), and Lux let out a cheer for them. It seemed to catch Garen's attention, and he looked up and saw her, and his smile grew even wider. He lifted a hand and waved, and she found herself waving back at her older brother, a grin on her own face.

Garen and Kat made their way across the hall to meet them. Kat seemed to notice the way Lux eagerly awaited her brother's approach, and she stepped away from Garen, allowing Lux the opportunity to launch herself at him and wrap her arms around her older brother.

Garen laughed.

"Good job, bro!" Lux said, smiling up at him. He ruffled her hair, and then he hugged her tighter and lifted her in the air and spun her around, and she let out a peal of laughter before he set her back down on the ground.

"Thanks for coming to see us!" Garen said as Lux backed away, allowing him to wrap his arm around Katarina's waist once more.

"Thank you," Kat chimed in, and Lux was surprised to see that the smile the red-haired woman offered her was genuine. "We really appreciate it."

Lux quirked an eyebrow at them. "So… you two…are…?" she let the question trail off, though she was pretty sure she'd known the answer by the way they wouldn't stop kissing each other during the curtain call.

"Dating, absolutely," Katarina said, and a hint of pink touched her cheeks as she lifted onto her toes and gave Garen a peck on the cheek.

Talon made a gagging sound in the back of his throat. Cassiopeia slapped his arm again, and then pushed him forward; he got the hint, and stepped towards them, nodding towards the bouquets in his arms.

Garen and Kat took the flowers and thanked them for the gift.

"Thank you so much," Garen said, "but really—"

"Oh, you deserve them," Cass said, nodding towards the pair. "Your performance was splendid, and you both handled the… Shaco situation… so well!"

Garen let out a bashful chuckle. "Well… Katarina did most of the work. We really have her to thank," he said, giving her a grin. Kat rolled her eyes and then smirked.

"Yeah. You _should_ be thanking me."

"Thank you," Garen breathed, and they leaned forward, meeting in a quick kiss.

"Soooo," Lux began, trying to keep them occupied so that they would _stop doing that_ , _ew_. "Did you guys talk about… how to handle public opinion?"

Garen and Kat shared a glance, and Kat shrugged. Garen cleared his throat. "We want to be together," he explained, "and if that means we have to deal with backlash, so be it. We'll be making the official statement later tonight."

"As long as you're sure that's what you want," she said noncommittally. Garen laughed, and Kat shrugged.

"It's definitely what we want," Kat said firmly, and she squeezed Garen's hand as she winked in his direction. He blushed and scratched his ear before returning his attention to his sister.

"Oh, hey!" Garen said, nodding towards Lux's wrist. "You found your watch!"

Lux's eyes widened. "What? Oh, oh—right! Yeah, I found it the other day, under my bed. Don't know how it ended up there!" she said, and let out a nervous laugh. Cassiopeia rolled her eyes, not even bothering to disguise her disgust.

Kat was frowning, staring hard at the watch. Then she looked at Talon, then back at the watch, then back towards Talon again, then towards Lux, and her eyes widened, and her jaw fell slack.

"Oh my god," Kat breathed.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Garen asked, and Kat's gaze never left Lux.

"That's Talon's watch," Kat stated simply, "I got it for him for his birthday a few years ago."

"What?" Garen asked, confused, noting how Lux and Talon both seemed suddenly tense, and how they exchanged nervous, panicked glances. "But why would Lux have… Talon's… watch…?" he asked, his voice trailing off as horrible, horrible realization set in.

"I was wrong," Kat muttered so only Garen could hear, and he heard the horror in her voice. "I was wrong about the reason she won't let you into her room. She's not fucking _Ezreal_. Jesus Christ, she's fucking my _brother_."

Garen cringed. "Dear god," he breathed in shock, "Your brother is fucking _my sister_."

They both shuddered as Talon and Lux, for their part, looked as if they would give anything to just vanish off the face of the planet in that instant.

"Congratulations on figuring it out," Cass stated simply, then turned to the guilty pair. "So were you two ever planning on telling us about your… relationship? After all, you were just advising Garen and Kat on dealing with their relationship being out in the open."

Lux swallowed. "Uhh… w-we… uhh… decidednottotellanyone."

"What was that?" Cass asked, smirking at their obvious embarrassment and discomfort.

"We weren't going to tell anyone. Ever," Talon elaborated, and even though his face was hidden under his cowl, Cass could still make out the red of his cheeks.

"I, uh… I gotta… go," Lux managed in a squeak, and then she ran off.

"Uhh… M-me, too," Talon muttered, then chased after Lux's retreating form.

There was silence as they watched the pair race down the hall and turn the corner, and then there was more silence as Garen and Kat tried to process what they'd just learned about their siblings.

"Huh," Garen managed. "Who'd have thought."

"I didn't see that one coming," Kat said, letting out a laugh, and Garen joined in.

"Neither did I," he said between chuckles, "Neither did I." Once he'd recovered from laughing, he straightened and brought his hand to her cheek, letting his thumb caress it. "To be fair, we can't really criticize them for dating. We're dating, too."

"Yes we are," Kat said, leaning into the touch. "And I'm the luckiest woman on earth."

"Oh, aren't you two disgustingly cute," Cass said with a huff. "If you'll _excuse_ me, I'm off to go drink myself into a mess so that I don't have to deal with the knowledge that my brother is dating my future sister-in-law, and that my sister-in-law's brother is dating my sister." And with a swish of her tail, Cass turned and slithered away in the direction of the Institute's bar.

"That… doesn't sound too bad about now," Kat laughed. "I could go for a drink."

"I have some beer in my fridge," Garen offered, and Kat gave him a smile before standing on her toes and bringing him in for a kiss that stole their breath away.

And then Garen's stomach let out a loud grumble, and Kat snickered as he blushed and chuckled sheepishly.

"Hungry?" she asked, knowing the answer.

"A bit," he admitted; he'd been too excited after the performance to notice, but he was actually very hungry from the ballet and from fighting Shaco.

"Me, too—I'm starving," she admitted. "How about King's Banquet?" She blushed, and gazed up at him through her eyelashes, genuinely embarrassed by the words she was about to say. "We could… walk by the fountain again."

Garen grinned. "I'd love that," he told her, and she blushed harder as his arms wrapped around her and he pressed their foreheads together, smiling at her.

"And _then_ we can go to your apartment and drink that beer," she said, the breathiness in her tone and the way her hand trailed down his toned abs promising more than just a night of drinking.

And with a newfound sense of boldness, he brought their lips together kissed her deeply, and she was the one left speechless after that kiss.

"Well, what are we waiting for, then? Let's go eat," he said as he took her hand, and they headed into town to eat dinner together.

Once they'd finished their meals, they walked through town, reminiscing about their first date and the wishes they'd made, the silent promises they'd given.

"You know," Kat said softly as they held one another and watched the moon's reflection in the burbling water, the way the silver beams reflected off of the coins at the bottom of the pool. "My wish came true."

"It did?" Garen asked as he leaned his forehead against hers, and she nodded against him, meeting his gaze with an intensity that made him forget how to breathe.

"I wished for you," she said softly, biting her lower lip. The night air was cold around them, but they wore thick coats and were huddled together, warding off the night chill. The blush that spread across his features and warmed him from the inside out helped stave off the cold, too. It was supposed to snow, later, if Janna's weather prediction had been correct that morning. A snow just in time for Snowdown. But the snow wasn't what Garen considered his favorite gift this winter; no, the assassin who wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace was his greatest treasure.

"I love you," he whispered to her.

And with an earnest smile that set his heart fluttering, Kat said those words that he hoped he would hear over and over for the rest of his life—for the rest of _their_ lives—together.

"I love you, too."

 **~THE END~**

* * *

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading this story! It's been quite a wild ride, and I hope this last chapter lived up to your expectations! I had meant to get this out in time for Christmas, then New Year's, but alas, it just kept getting longer and longer. Whoops! But it's still Snowdown, so it's not too late, right?

Many thanks to meltedjujubees for helping me out when I got stuck, for helping with ideas for this chapter (thank her for Draven, if you enjoyed that bit, and the Talon/Lux is entirely for her), and for reading all the rough drafts I sent her. AND FOR POINTING OUT THAT I PUBLISHED THIS WITHOUT LINE BREAKS AACK! You're awesome! :3

Thanks also to tahimi and winterzz for your words of encouragement! They were extremely motivating, and really helped me get this chapter finished! ^w^

Special thanks to all of my reviewers! Your reviews always brighten my day, and I appreciate every one. :3

I've really enjoyed writing this story, and I hope you've had as much fun reading it as I had writing it! Since some of you have asked, yes, I do intend to continue writing League of Legends stories, so you'll definitely see me around! Until then, though, see ya!

Have a Happy Snowdown, everyone!


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